


Return to Freddy's

by Fandom_Butterfly



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, F/M, Horror, Humour, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2018-09-02 10:56:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 118,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8664949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandom_Butterfly/pseuds/Fandom_Butterfly
Summary: Eighteen years have passed since the murders at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza and Iona Blackburn, who has just moved into a place of her own and is looking for a job to help pay the rent, has returned to the pizzeria that had been her favourite place as a child to work as a night security guard there. Little does she know of the dark secrets she will learn of the restaurant's past that have been hidden from her all these years, the dangers she will soon face after signing up and the bizarre ways in which this new job will change her life overall.





	1. Prologue: The One That Got Away

_Where is she…?_

That same question had plagued his mind constantly for the past eighteen years, ever since the day he had committed that unspeakable crime. Ever since the disaster he had caused that had all but shattered the reputation of one of the most famous restaurants in town.

Afton sat in his faded and moth-eaten seat, his thin and sickly form hunched over and his head bowed forward, half a cigarette hanging loosely, absently between his fingers, a thin sliver of smoke still rising from its end, adding to the already foul and suffocating miasma of the stale, musty air. His gaze was fixed on the carpet beneath his cracked mud-caked leather shoes. It too was faded and stained, littered with crumbs, tobacco ash, old cigarette butts, trash and mouldy pieces of discarded food, all of which he had never bothered to clean up. Dirt and grime had been smeared into the once bright red fabric so much that it was now a dark, mucky burgundy colour. It had not felt the single stroke of a vacuum cleaner for the past eighteen years.

But it wasn’t just his carpet that had suffered such neglect; the entire house was in utter disarray. Every room had been left in a complete mess. The living room, the dining room, the kitchen, the main hallway, his bedroom, even the bathroom had not been cleaned once since he returned home from his final shift at work, at that famous children’s pizzeria. Every surface, every piece of furniture was covered in dust and mould. Old cobwebs hung from every corner in every room, long abandoned by the arachnids that had created them, themselves completely matted with dust, containing nothing but the remains of captured insects and discarded exoskeletons, curled and crispy from years of just being left there. They swayed very gently from what little drafts that came through the dark and empty house, like the rotting lace curtains that had been drawn a long time ago and had never been opened again. Even the spiders’ old, papery egg sacs could be seen here and there throughout the house, the slings having already hatched and left the nest years ago, left empty and abandoned, resembling a corpse’s head, the skull having been cracked and the brains emptied out. The cushions on his chairs and couches and his bedsheets and pillowcases were dotted with mildew and fungi grew in the darkest corners of the house, even in the soil of the houseplants, which were now brown and dried out, left to die and decay, like everything else in the house. Even all the windows were cracked and completely covered in dust and grime, so much so that it was difficult to tell whether it was day or night outside, their hinges rusted into place from the last time they had been shut, never to be opened again.

The only things that actually got cleaned now and then were the dishes and his clothes, but that was only when he had no clean dishes left to eat off of or no fresh clothes left to wear. Otherwise, his many plates and cutlery were left where he had put them down when he was finished with them, attracting flies, cockroaches, mice and rats to them, to the food he never seemed to bring himself to finish. It wasn’t often that he actually changed into some clean clothes either. On rare occasions when he would, his dirty laundry would just be left to pile up in a corner somewhere in his room. It would be weeks, months perhaps before he’d wash himself again, meaning that most of the time he would be bathed in the sickening aroma of the dry, sticky sweat which clung to his pale and sagged skin like the thick, shiny grease did to his dark, lanky hair. He never bothered to buy himself new clothes either; he always wore the same faded and ragged garments he had kept all these years.

Even outside, in his front porch and backyard, all the plants and flowers had been left to wither, leaving it to become overgrown until it was a jungle of tangled weeds. Blades of grass had been allowed to grow tall from every crevice between the concrete slabs which lead up to his front door. Nothing new and colourful grew or was sustained within the Afton household anymore. Everything was rotting and falling to pieces, like the empty shell of an old carcass whose soul had long since left the body it once possessed.

But none of that seemed to bother him, not even in the slightest. For the past eighteen years, his mind had been filled with nothing but a certain child who had somehow managed to escape his clutches and leave the pizzeria unharmed the day he committed his awful deed.

_Six children I lured away that day. By the time I was finished, only five lay dead at my feet._

He didn’t know how, but some way or another, the sixth child, his sixth intended victim had survived his wrath and had completely vanished into thin air. Not that he had ever been back to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza since that day himself, but even on the rare occasions when he left his home, he still never caught a glimpse of her again. Although he never even learned her name, or any of the children’s names for that matter, he still remembered her very well. He remembered everything about the incident as if it had only happened yesterday.

He remembered the bright and colourful restaurant, roaring with the din of loud music blaring from the stage, the three animatronic mascots - the bear, the rabbit and the chicken - singing, children laughing, playing and singing along to those stupid, childish songs. He remembered the old yellow rabbit suit he had taken from the storage room, the metal spring locks attached to the inside to fit onto a robotic endoskeleton in the days of the original restaurant. He remembered the great care he took in putting it on, knowing that even the slightest wrong move could set the springs off. He remembered the cake he had stolen from the kitchen, a birthday cake, large and covered from top to bottom with rich, fluffy white frosting, the cake he had chosen to use as bait. He remembered the group of six children playing in a corner, sitting at small plastic tables and drawing pictures of the characters with crayons of varying colours. He remembered the excited looks on their faces and the cheers they let out when he called to them. He remembered their anticipation as he led them away to the back room before closing the door behind them. He remembered the sudden change of mood around the group when he shed his costume, the looks of fear on their faces when revealed his knife. He remembered their screams and cries of pain and horror which was music to his ears as he brutally slaughtered them one by one like livestock. Most of all, he remembered taking the time to count the bodies after he was finished, the blood staining the black and white checkered tiles, the lifeless eyes staring blankly into space, the looks of terror fixed on their contorted faces. Six children he had lured away, but when it was all over, only five bodies surrounded him in that dark little room. 

One of them had gotten away.

Not only that, but he knew exactly which one it was, for he had studied each and every one of them carefully before taking them away. A little girl, with long and slightly messy brown hair and bright green eyes, wearing a blue knee-length denim skirt and a pink zip-up hoodie. He looked around, but she was not in the room with him. After clearing away the otherwise all too damning evidence, he left the room and looked around the pizzeria, but she was nowhere to be seen. She was no longer in the building.

He had no idea how she had managed to get away from him so quickly. Did she somehow realise the danger she was in and fled? Or did someone come and take her away? Her parents? Another member of staff, perhaps? Or, possibly, one of those damned robots! They could still move around back then, before infamous Bite happened, which resulted in their permanent immobilisation on the stage. Thanks to the new technology which was pretty advanced for their time, they were intelligent enough to respond to whatever the children said and did. Perhaps they too sensed the danger those children in particular were in? It wasn’t exactly impossible. Quietly, without drawing any attention to himself, he left the building and proceeded to search the entire town for the child, but there was no sign of her anywhere. 

Even now, after all these years, he still had never seen her again, not once. He supposed that maybe after the news had gotten out of the other children’s disappearance, her family had moved out of town, probably to take her somewhere safer. Even so, after the disappearances had been reported and the pizzeria temporarily shut down for investigations, he told the managers that he had been so shocked with the news that he no longer wished to work there. Though his real motivation for doing so was to avoid detection out by the police. For years, he kept a low profile so that no one would even suspect that he was the culprit. Even after the case was closed and the children declared legally dead, their bodies having never been found, he still did not wish to be found out. Despite the sheer pride he felt when he read the papers, knowing that he was the one that made the headlines, the biggest story of the time being the five children reported missing, he still didn’t feel completely satisfied, knowing that one child had somehow gotten away.

For years after that, that one child was all that filled his mind. Day and night, he thought of nothing except that one little brat that had so silently slipped from his clutches, without him even noticing until it was too late. It was because of her that he had shut himself away in his home the way he did, closing the windows and drawing the curtains for good, never allowing a single ray of sunlight in again. The only light he ever allowed himself was from his fireplace. Every night he would sit in front of it, in an icy sweat of hatred, staring into the dancing and crackling flames until his tired eyes ached from the intense brightness. How he wished that she was in there, screaming like the little brat she was as her body burned and blackened until it was reduced to ashes. The mental image brought him so much pleasure that a sick warmth bubbled in the pit of his stomach like boiling magma and a sadistic grin spread across his dry, cracked lips. But alas, he could not get the satisfaction of seeing it happen in real life. 

It was because of her that he allowed his house to become the filthy, decaying mess it was now. It was because of her that he had made himself very ill with this obsession of his, that his once strong and robust figure was now gaunt and hollow, that he had reduced himself to nothing but skin and bone, that he now looked like a walking corpse. It was because of her that he ate very little and slept even less. During what little sleep he got, her bright and happy face haunted his nightmares and continued to plague his thoughts during his every waking moment, taunting him as the one that got away. It was because of her that he now barely washed, that he chain-smoked and was slowly killing himself by constantly breathing in the deadly concoction of smoke, nicotine and the stale, mouldy air of the house he insisted on keeping himself imprisoned in. Any fresh air he did get was never from opening his windows, but by simply going outside to buy himself some food which, really, he only ate to sustain the pathetic existence he had subjected himself to. It was because of her that he was forced to spend the last eighteen years all alone, tormenting himself over her.

Though he wasn’t _really_ alone after all. The only companions he had for so many years were the many spiders, cockroaches and beetles that came into his home every so often, attracted by the mouldy food he often left around the house. Not that he cared much for their company though. Whenever he saw one scuttling in front of his feet, he would absentmindedly step on it, listening to the light crunch of the creature’s fragile body under the weight of his foot. Then he would twist his foot left and right to make sure that the bug was well and truly crushed under his shoe and slowly dragged it across the carpet, watching as the flattened remains came apart from under the sole, the brown blood and innards only adding to the already appallingly stained fabric. To most people, killing an insect or a spider was mere pest control or to calm themselves or others who had phobias of such creatures. To him though, it was nothing. It was nothing for him to just end the life of another living creature so casually. After all, what was the life of an insect compared to that of a human child? To him, they were one in the same. To him, they were both pesky, disgusting little creatures who deserved to die, to be utterly destroyed, simply for existing. Like her, the child who got away, the child who lived.

Only, she would no longer be a child now, but an adult, a grown woman in her twenties. Oh, how he hated her so, even more than any child he had hated before. Even more than the ones he had managed to kill, for she had dared to escape from him and to live. And now he was driving himself to distraction, racking his brains out with so many questions. How did she escape? Who had saved her from him? Where was she? And what was she doing now?

Many times, he had tortured himself by thinking of what was happening with her now after surviving him. If her family had moved out of town, to another State even, obviously she would have to have started going to a different school then. How many friends did she manage to make in that new school? Did she keep in touch with any of the friends she had from her previous one? How well did she do in high school? Got good grades? Was able to get into college? Got a stable, well-paid job? Or perhaps was pursuing a career in the arts? What kind of skills or passions had she developed? Did she have a boyfriend now? Or a girlfriend, depending on what she preferred? Were she and her partner already thinking of getting married and starting a family, having little children of their own? Had she really gone on to live a happy and fulfilling life since the day she escaped from him? Oh, how he despised her for that, for daring to live longer than he would’ve allowed.

Or, what if she _wasn’t_ still alive? What if she was already dead after all, even though he had failed to make sure of that himself? What if someone else had murdered her? Perhaps her life wasn’t quite so happy after all, that she had encountered so many misfortunes that she became depressed and committed suicide. Maybe she was careless while crossing the road one day and was hit by a truck. Maybe she fell into a river and drowned. Perhaps she had succumbed to an incurable illness at a very young age? Past out whilst drunk and choked on her own vomit? Developed a drug addiction and overdosed? Stung by a hornet and had an allergic reaction? Or had not been careful on the stairs and had fallen and broken her neck? Maybe she was trapped in a house fire and couldn’t be saved in time? Perhaps she had been caught in the middle of a train wreck or a terrorist attack and was one of the unlucky ones. The possibilities were simply endless. What if she had miraculously somehow left this world already and he no longer had anything to worry about?

No. He simply couldn’t take that chance. He had to make sure for himself. Which could only mean one thing: he had to find her, and he would. Dead or alive, he knew she was still out there somewhere and he would find her. If he had to travel to the other side of the world and back, if he had to move Heaven and Earth, he would find her. He didn’t care how far he would have to go, what it took, what the costs were, he was determined he would find her. And when he did, he would not allow her to get away from him again. He would crush her, like the many insects and arachnids he had crushed in his home before. He would slaughter her like the other five children he slaughtered, the other children she was supposed to join. But first, he had to find her, and he would. When he did, he would not let her escape. Not this time.


	2. Chapter 1: Starting Over

“One, two, three, _hup_!”

Iona hefted the heavy suitcase through the front door, pulling it with all her strength over the step before dragging it through the apartment to put it with the rest of her luggage that had been left in the main sitting room. On the way, her father, who had been helping her to take all her belongings from the family home to this apartment, offered to help her, but she just waved him off, telling him she could manage on her own. Having placed the large case in the middle of the room with the other suitcases, bags and boxes, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew, made it,” she breathed, wiping away the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

“Is that everything then?” asked her father, looking around at all the luggage that had been placed in random spots around the room.

“Yup, that’s everything,” Iona confirmed with a nod.

“Are you sure?” asked her dad again.

“Dad, this was the last thing in the car,” she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice as she ventured down to the case, whose handle she was still holding.

Her dad chuckled, shaking his head as he smiled his signature goofy smile at her. “I was just making sure.”

He walked up to her and as he did, he opened up his arms. Iona smiled back as she returned the gesture until they both met in a tight and warm embrace.

“I’m so proud of my wee girl,” he said quietly, his voice wavering slightly as though about to be accompanied by tears.

Iona pulled away and looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. “Wee girl? Dad, I’m twenty-three.”

“I know, I know,” he answered with a laugh, gently nudging his daughter’s cheek with his fist. “But that’s exactly why I’m so proud of you. You’re all grown up now and you’re moving into a place of your own. And besides, it doesn’t matter what age you are. You’ll always be my wee girl.”

Iona blushed as she looked away, and yet she could not help the smile that remained on her face. “Why are you so proud of me for moving out? Lots of people do that after they’ve grown up. I mean, it’s not exactly a big achievement or anything,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Well, you know,” her father went on, shrugging his shoulders. “It just means that you no longer need your old dad to look after you anymore. You can take care of yourself now, which is also another reason for me to be so proud of you.” As he said that last sentence, he began ruffling his daughter’s hair.

“Hey, get off!” she exclaimed, pushing his hand away adjusted her hair to get the mess he had just created there out. “It took me ages to get all the frizz out of that!”

Her father chuckled and shook his head again. Then, taking another look around the living room, he asked, “Now, are you sure you don’t want any help in putting all this stuff away?”

Iona smiled. “Yes, I’m sure,” she answered, nodding. “I mean, I do appreciate the offer, but honestly, it’ll be much easier for me just to get it all done myself. And the less hassle there’ll be involved in me getting my new home in order, the more mentally prepared I’ll be in getting me a job to help keep my new roof over my head.”

“Aye, well,” her dad said. “I think you should just take a few days to get settled into the old flat first, and _then_ you can worry about finding a job. Besides, you can always count on me and your mum to give you any money should you need it.”

“Yeah, I know,” Iona replied, rubbing her arm awkwardly. “But I don’t wanna be scrounging off you and mom all the time, especially now that I’ve got a place of my own. I wanna try and make _some_ money of my own now, if not a lot.”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart,” answered her dad, tweaking his daughter’s cheek only to be swatted away with an irritated hand. “Just remember though,” he went on. “If there’s anything you need, anything at all, you can always come to me or your mother.”

“Thanks, Dad,” smiled Iona, giving him another hug. When they pulled away, her father looked at his watch.

“Well, I’d best be off,” he said. “See if your mum needs any help.”

He made his way towards the front door, Iona following closely behind him to see him off. When he stepped out of the apartment, he turned back to face his daughter, who had stopped at the door.

“See you later, Dad,” she said, smiling. “Thanks for helping me out today.”

“No problem, baby,” he replied, giving his daughter one last hug. “Just take care of yourself, eh?”

“Will do,” she answered before pulling away from him.

“Well, I’m off,” her dad said, turning and beginning to walk down the stairs. “See you later.”

“Bye, Dad!” she called after him, waving until he finally disappeared out of site. Smiling to herself, she shut the door and walked back through the apartment towards the living room. _Take care of yourself._ The words seemed to echo in her mind. She guessed he hadn’t really forgotten about that day, all those years ago when she was only five years old. Well, she really shouldn’t have been all that surprised, considering how close a call that had been. Heck, she was surprised that her parents, especially her mother who was usually so overprotective, had let her move back into this town, since her family had had to move _out_ of it when the dreadful news which followed had gotten out and had never been back since. They must’ve been nervous about letting her live here again, even after all these years, though she figured they never said anything because they were certain that she could take care of herself now. Besides, just because this one dreadful thing happened in a specific area didn’t automatically make it an unsafe place altogether, right?

Not wanting to let the disturbing memories ruin her day, Iona just shook them out her mind as she stepped into the living room, looking at all the luggage that had been dumped here and there throughout the room.

“Now…” she began, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. “Where to begin? Ah, I know.”

Approaching a medium-sized cardboard box with her initials, “I.B.” written on it in black marker that had been placed down in front of the electric fireplace, she opened it and took out a stereo CD player and one of her favourite albums. She plugged the machine into the the wall and put the disc in. A song by her favourite band started to play as she finally began to unpack. 

She folded her clothes and put them into the drawers in the bedroom and put all the cutlery and crockery away into the various cupboards and on some of the surfaces the kitchen, where she also put the food she and her dad had bought on the way here into the freezer, the refrigerator and in the remaining cupboards. She took all of her toiletries and towels into the bathroom and set up her TV in her room. Her many pieces of jewellery had to be placed into some small boxes or left on some hangers which were all placed on her windowsill and her desk, which was also to be the home of her computer. Her smaller belongings, her iPod, her cellphone and her purse, were to be kept in a smaller chest of drawers beside her bed. Various pieces of stationary she often used were to live in another chest on the other side of the bed. Her books, DVDs, CDs and games had to be arranged on some shelves in her room and in the living room. The apartment came with its own DVD player, which was in the living room, under the TV, and that was where she had decided her game consoles should also live. Coats, jackets and some of her more fashionable or formal clothing which could not be folded were hung in a cupboard across her room from her bed, which also had to be made up. It was always one of her least favourite tasks, making the bed. She didn’t mind putting the cases on the pillows, but putting the sheet over the mattress and the cover on her duvet were always greatly challenging to her. However, with some perseverance, she eventually got the job done. All of her posters were hung around her room and her favourite ornaments, which she had wrapped very securely prior to leaving her previous home, were placed in whatever spaces were left throughout the apartment.

There was just so much work to be done, a long process which took a good few hours to complete, but thanks to the music she had playing in the background, she never got bored with her work. She even sang along to the songs that played, all of which she knew by heart, which was very helpful in keeping her spirits up as she zipped back and forth around the apartment, putting things away in their rightful places. She never even thought to take a break and before she knew it, all of her luggage had been emptied of her belongings, which had all been put away tidily around the house. Taking a few walks around her new home, Iona finally nodded, satisfied with her work, which had also altogether left her tired and worn out. She brought all her empty cases and bags into her room and placed them into her cupboard alongside her coats and flopped herself down onto her bed and within minutes, she floated away into the dark realm of dreams.

When she came to, the first thing she noticed was that her stomach was growling. She had not eaten all day since moving out of the family home after breakfast and she was just so busy getting her new apartment in order that she didn’t even stop to have lunch. Now she was absolutely starving. Rubbing the dried mucous from her eyes, she forced her heavy eyelids open and looked at her digital alarm clock. The bright red numbers read 7:00 pm. After taking a few minutes to waken up, she forced herself out of bed and stretched her body, grunting loudly with the effort. She looked out her window and saw that it was starting to get dark. Good thing she and her dad had stopped in at a grocery store to get food on the way to the apartment; she wasn’t exactly comfortable with the idea of having to go out shopping for food during the night. Her mother’s exaggerated warnings about gangsters and predators had made her somewhat paranoid.

Finally staggering out of her room, still feeling a little groggy, as if she were a zombie that had just risen out of its grave, she slowly made her way to the kitchen. She took a ready-made meal out of the freezer and warmed it in the microwave according to the instructions; she wasn’t feeling up to preparing anything too involved tonight. That would have to wait until tomorrow evening when she was feeling more energetic. Soon, the timer on the microwave finally went off with a loud, high-pitched _ting!_ and, after letting it stand for a minute, Iona removed her dinner from the machine, stirred it and emptied the contents of the sachet onto a plate.

Once she had finished eating, she took her plate and cutlery over to the sink, where she washed them before drying and putting them away into the cupboards. Despite having just eaten, she then got herself a bowl of popcorn and took it into the living room, where she turned on the TV and proceeded to flick through the various channels to see if there was anything good on. She stopped at what appeared to be an animated and somewhat cheesy, melodramatic and altogether over-the-top soap opera about a vampire count and his distressed mistress. It seemed that their relationship was falling apart, evident by their constant bickering over whether or not he was really the father of their child.

“Ugh,” she grumbled, pressing the button on the remote to turn the TV off once the episode had finished. “Evening television, guaranteed crap.”

Taking her now empty bowl into the kitchen, she gave that a clean too before turning off all the lights in her apartment. She then went into her room and changed into some pyjamas, taking her dirty laundry through to the kitchen and placing them into a basket. Returning to her room, she sat down at her desk to play some games on her computer for a few hours before she felt herself becoming sleepy. Finally, she closed down her computer, got into bed, turned off her light and settled down to sleep.

The alarm went off the next morning with a loud _beep, beep!_ Iona groaned as she was rudely pulled out of a rather pleasant dream by the irritating noise. For a few moments, she fought with every sleepy muscle in her body before she finally forced her upper half off the mattress, just enough to reach over to the chest of drawers next to her bed. Her hand blindly groped at the surface until she finally grabbed her alarm clock. She pressed the snooze button to temporarily shut the thing up and willed her heavy eyelids open so she could see the time. The time was 7:30 am. She sighed contentedly; she could afford at least another hour of laziness.

She let her head drop back down onto the pillow and smiled absentmindedly as she allowed herself to drift back into the dream she had just been woken up from. She had been asleep again for half an hour, but to her, it seemed like only two seconds before the alarm clock’s shrieking wake-up call began ringing on the inside of her head again.

“All right, all right! I’ll get up! Geez!” she moaned in the likeness of an angsty teen as their annoying mother bugged them to get out of bed. Reaching over, she smashed her fist on the clock, putting down the alarm button, switching it off completely. Whipping off her covers, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and lifted herself onto her feet, staggering at first but then steadying herself until she stood completely straight. She let out a loud yawn as she stretched her entire body, arms reaching upwards as if desperately trying to touch the ceiling as her feet seemed to raise themselves upward, pushing the rest of her body upwards until she stood on her tiptoes like a ballerina. Then she left herself drop back down onto her heels and forced her eyes open once again.

She looked around and saw in her sleepy deliriousness that she was in a very unfamiliar room. Then she remembered that she had only just moved out of her family home the day before and she was now in her new apartment. Nodding at her own realisation, she lumbered out of her room and headed into the bathroom, where she washed herself and brushed her teeth. Once she was all cleaned up and fully awake, she headed into the kitchen and got herself a bowl of cereal.

As she sat down to eat her breakfast, she took the time to think about what to do today. She remembered her father telling her to take a few days to settle into her new home before trying to find a job. It was a small town as she remembered though, it wasn’t as if there was much to do. She had plenty of movies to watch at home though, plenty of video games to play and books to read. Nah… she didn’t want to spend the next few days cooped up inside. She knew what she ought to do today. She would go out and explore a bit of the town. There was very little that offered much hope for excitement, but she figured she would need to get her bearings sooner or later. She might even do a bit of shopping as well. She would see how she felt.

Again, when she had finished, she took her bowl and spoon over to he sink where she washed them. After drying them and putting them away in their proper places, she went into her room where she changed into jeans and a t-shirt. Putting her phone, iPod and purse into her handbag, she tied her hoodie around her waist in case she would need it later should the summer weather get cooler at some point. As she exited her room, she took her pyjamas into the kitchen where she threw them into the laundry basket to join the clothes she had worn the day before. Finally, she got her key, stepped out the door and locked it behind her before ascending the stairs and stepping out of the apartment complex.

As she walked around the town, a smile spread across her face as memories of her childhood came flooding back into her mind. She passed the movie theatre, where her parents had taken her to see some of the latest Disney releases. She passed the swing park, where she and her older sister were brought during summer vacation. She even saw the kiosk beyond it where they sometimes got ice cream. At one point, she even saw the elementary school where she went to before… before her family had to move out of town. She had kept in touch with some of her friends after she had moved away, but the letters and calls got fewer and further between until they stopped talking altogether. Not that she or any of them had done anything wrong, it was just something that happened sometimes between long distance friendships. She wondered how they all were and what they were doing with their lives now. Did they know the reason why she had to leave? Did they know about that incident? Shaking her head to dispel the unhappy thoughts from her mind, she continued with her walk around town.

She came up to the small shopping mall and went in. As she explored its long, wide hallways, she saw that it had nothing but clothes stores, jeweller’s and fast food joints. Nothing could be sold in here that she didn’t already have back home. Leaving the mall, she came across a little corner shop and went in to buy herself some snacks, just in case she wished to indulge in another movie night.

She soon felt herself becoming a little hungry and stopped in a nearby café for some lunch. She ate in silence as she stared round at all the other customers seated around her, unable to hear what any of them were saying to each other. It was a small café, but it was filled with the roaring din of them all chatting with each other and ordering their lunch, waiters and waitresses shouting said orders at each other and the till chiming every five minutes as cash was placed into it.

After finishing her meal, she left the coffee shop to walk around the town a bit more. She passed a library, a bar, a supermarket and a few more drug stores. She didn’t enter any of them, she never planned to. She just wanted to familiarise herself with her old home once more. It had been years since she lived here and she was very young when her family had to move away, but as she walked around, all the memories of the town she had never been back to for the last eighteen years came back to her. She never saw any familiar faces during her walk, but that wasn’t exactly untoward. People moved all the time. Though she supposed that at least a few people would’ve stayed all these years. She wondered if she would make any new friends now that she had moved back here, and if there were any old acquaintances she had not yet seen, would she get to know them and be friends with them again also? She would just have to wait and see.

It had been perfectly warm all day, but eventually Iona began to notice it getting a bit chilly. She checked the time on her phone and saw that evening was approaching. She put on her hoodie and decided to head home, hands in her pockets as she went. 

When she got home, she found that she was starting to feel hungry. Something about spending the whole day walking around town could really arouse her appetite. She went into the kitchen and, putting on another CD on her stereo player, got all the ingredients for her chosen dish together from the refrigerator and the cupboards and proceeded to make herself some early dinner.

Once finished, she got herself some of the snacks which she had bought that day sat down on the couch to watch some of her favourite movies. When it was getting close to bedtime, she called her parents back home, just to let them know how she was liking her new home. Then she changed into some pyjamas and played some games on her computer before settling down for the night.

She got up early the next morning and decided she would have another walk around the town. After breakfast, she got dressed and once again stepped out of her apartment and headed back into the streets. This time, she stopped and had brief conversations with some strangers she met, but it was nothing too personal, just simple topics for smalltalk, like the weather or the biggest stories in the news. She went into the same café and ordered herself the same thing, but instead of sitting in, she took it away and sat on a bench in the park while she ate, watching some of the people that passed by her. She smiled sweetly at any small child which stared at her with big, curious eyes as their parents dragged them past her and quietly said hello to any dogs which were led past her by their owners, petting the ones which got in close to sniff at her shoes.

When evening came, she got home and went through a very similar routine as the night before; had dinner, played some games on one of her consoles, changed into some pyjamas and went to bed. Taking a book off one of the bookcases, she read a chapter or two before turning off her light and settling down to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, she decided that she had done enough settling and that it was now time to find herself a job to help maintain her place in this apartment. So as soon as she had gotten breakfast and dressed, she headed out to that same corner shop where she bought herself a newspaper, in which she was sure to find some advertisements for job vacancies. 

After getting home, she went straight to her room and got some pens from her stationary drawer as she began to search the job section of the newspaper for some positions to apply for. Surprisingly enough, she found a lot of jobs which interested her somewhat. A coffee shop was looking for some new waiting staff, a beauty salon was in need of a new make-up artist, a pharmacy wanted someone to cover the till, a nearby college needed a librarian and the museum needed a tour guide. Not all of them very interesting jobs, but they seemed simple enough and she hoped they were well paid enough to cover her rent.

She circled all the jobs she considered applying for with a black ballpoint pen, not particularly excited about the concept of working in any of these places but accepting of the fact that she would need to find work somewhere. She continued her search through the job section until she stopped. 

She had come to an ad with a monochrome photograph of a familiar looking anthropomorphic bear which sported a black top hat and bow tie of the same colour. He held a microphone in one paw while holding the other up and smiling brightly into the distance as if greeting an audience. Next to the picture, the ad read the following:-

**HELP WANTED**

**Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza**

**Family pizzeria looking**  
**for security guard to**  
**work the nightshift.  
**12 am to 6 am.****

**Monitor cameras, ensure**  
**safety of equipment and  
**animatronic characters.****

**Not responsible for**  
**injury/dismemberment.**

**$120 a week.**  
**To apply call:  
**1-888-FAZ-FAZBEAR****

Freddy Fazbear. Now there was a name Iona had not heard for eighteen years. A name that once brought happiness to her whenever she heard it. A name that held happy childhood memories for, memories which had been pushed to the back of her mind all these years. She was very young, but the moment her eyes landed on that photograph, all the memories of that place came rushing back into her head like a flood.

****************** ** ** ** ** **

When she was a very small child, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza had been her favourite place in town for as long as she could remember. She remembered she would always convince her parents to take her there as often as she could. She remembered her parents protesting, saying she couldn’t eat pizza all the time, but she would always beg and plead, would even go as far as whining and crying, until they gave in took her to her favourite restaurant.

****************** ** ** ** ** **

And what a restaurant is was. It was a child’s paradise, with the colourful and jolly animatronic characters that would perform happy songs for the kids, all the fun games and activities that could be played in the arcade section, and some awesome prizes that could be won by a lucky draw. The food was amazing as well. She remembered munching on that greasy but tasty pizza which was always piping hot, fresh from the oven. The restaurant served other kinds of food too, but she couldn’t remember half the other stuff for she always ate the pizza. The desserts too were better than any desserts she had ever eaten anywhere else. Cake, pies, ice cream, custard, jelly, mousse, cheesecake, cookies, doughnuts, every single dessert you could hope for was served there. She remembered having a birthday party there, or having the privilege of being invited to one a friend was having, and the birthday cake tasted absolutely divine! Like no cake she had ever eaten before or since. She could taste it now, light, fluffy sponge with the rich, sweet vanilla cream filling. She could’ve sworn that she had tasted heaven with every bite she took.

****************** ** ** ** ** **

But it was the animatronic characters that Iona loved most about the restaurant. There were four mascots if she could remember correctly; a bear, a rabbit, a chicken and a fox. As she remembered them all, their names instantly came back to her too; Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. Of course she had to remember Freddy Fazbear. He was the one the restaurant was named after. He was the one that the pizzeria belonged to. Yes, that was it. As far as the restaurant managers were concerned, the robotic mascots belonged to the pizzeria, but the way Iona saw it, the pizzeria belonged to Freddy. It was his home, his palace, his kingdom, and he was the rightful ruler, his friends, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy alongside him. They reigned in that restaurant together as a family, and the managers were just in charge of making sure everything went as it should whilst Freddy and his friends entertained the children and their families.

****************** ** ** ** ** **

Iona remembered them performing. She could see them now in her mind’s eye, singing and dancing there up on that brightly coloured stage, jerky, awkward movements which could only be expected from a robot. Yet despite that, to her, they couldn’t have seemed more alive. Their pre-recorded voices were so full of excitement and enthusiasm as they greeted the children and sang to them. Their glass eyes were so full of emotion to her. She could always see the happiness inside, as if they loved what they did, as if they would never give up their career for the world. Indeed, they gave her no indication that they would rather be anywhere else. After all, what job could be better than entertaining children?

****************** ** ** ** ** **

But it wasn’t just their singing that she loved. She remembered they would come off stage walk around the tables talking to the children. They asked them how old they were, if it was their birthday that day, what they wanted to be when they grew up, what they wanted them to sing for them. She especially loved it when one of the mascots stopped and talked to her. She would always blush and turn away from them, but when she did have the courage to speak to them, they would always respond to what she said with the same friendly adoration she expected any human adult to. She also remembered she would feel a pang of envy whenever they spoke to any of the other children there too, even though they always spoke to her whenever she was there. And she was there that often that she was certain that the animals were getting to know her, that they were becoming closer and closer to her every day she was there, that they were slowly but surely forming a bond with her. To her, they were as good as her closest friends.

****************** ** ** ** ** **

To her, it seemed as if they were truly alive, and not just a bunch of mindless robots programmed to behave as though they were. To her, they _did_ have minds of their own, they _did_ have personalities of their own. Crazy as it sounded, she could’ve sworn that the robots had souls. Who would’ve thought that a man-made moving puppet made of metal beams, bolts, wires and artificial fur could act as though it was well and truly alive?

****************** ** ** ** ** **

It was indeed her favourite place to be in the world. Until the day that incident happened, and everything changed. She wasn’t exactly sure what that incident was of course. All she knew was that whatever had happened, it was the reason why she had never been back to Freddy’s afterwards, why her family had moved out of town and had never been back since. 

****************** ** ** ** ** **

She herself was only five years old then, so she was too young to really understand what was going on. All she could remember was sitting in a corner playing with five other children, none of whom she knew. Then a tall yellow rabbit whom she had never seen before appeared with a large white birthday cake and called to them. She had followed the group to the back room, a room she had never been in, until she was quickly taken back to her parents, who were then urged to take her home immediately, without really being told why. Despite her screaming and crying to stay, she was dragged from the pizzeria and the family all rushed home. A few days later, her parents told her they were moving out of town. She was very distraught at the news of course, knowing this would mean leaving the home she was used to, her friends at school and worst of all, Freddy Fazbear’s. But her parents shut her up by telling her it was for her safety, again without explaining to her why.

****************** ** ** ** ** **

Even years after they had moved away, they still wouldn’t tell her what had happened. Whenever she asked, her parents would just instantly change the subject or would just stare at her, frozen with anxiety for a couple of seconds before turning away. Whatever it was that had happened at Freddy’s that day must’ve been truly awful for her to be pulled away so suddenly, for her family to move to another town, for them to never wish to speak of it again. Thought try as she would, she simply just could not get an explanation out of them as to what dreadful occurrence had taken place there. Eventually she just stopped trying and the whole mysterious incident just evaporated from her mind and she never though of it again. Though she was sure now that her parents still thought of it from time to time. Why else would they be nervous about letting her move back here, before being convinced that she could take care of herself now? Why else would her father make a point of telling her to do just that before leaving her at her new home?

****************** ** ** ** ** **

Even now, at the age of twenty-three, she still had no idea what had happened that day. As all the memories of her childhood there were coming back to her, Iona was really excited at the idea of working at the pizzeria she had once considered a second home. But when she remembered her last day there, she began to wonder what her parents would think? Would they be supportive of her choice of work? Or would they be afraid for her safety? She shrugged, figuring she wouldn’t really need to tell them. After all, it was just a children’s entertainment pizzeria. Whatever it was that happened, what were the chances of it ever happening again? Whoever it was that was responsible, they couldn’t still be there after all these years, right? It was sure to be the same safe haven for children she had once known it to be, right? She was a little confused as to why such a place would need a security guard of course, let alone one that worked night shift there, when it was closed and all the customers and other employees had gone home.

****************** ** ** ** ** **

But right now, she really didn’t care. She was just too enthusiastic about working at a place that had charmed her childhood. Besides, it was also a chance for her to find out the truth about what had happened there all those years ago. So it was decided.

****************** ** ** ** ** **

She picked up a red marker and circled around the vacancy ad with it, indicating the first place she would call. Then, taking the newspaper into the sitting room, she picked up the phone.

****************** ** ** ** ** **


	3. Chapter 2: Career Choice

A huge wave of nostalgia came over Iona as she stepped towards the restaurant of her childhood. She couldn’t help but smile widely as she stared up at the large and colourful sign just above the front entrance. The words, “FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA” in bright lettering with the four smiling cartoon animals above it, the whole image surrounded by many lightbulbs which would glitter on and off during the evening, giving off a very showbiz vibe indeed, like a theatre or a casino. Walking up the few steps to the double glass doors, images flashed in her mind of her five-year-old self skipping excitedly up to the entrance, eager to go in, followed by her parents who urged her to calm down and wait for them.

She stopped at the doors and took a deep breath. Excited though she was at the idea of working at a place which held such dear childhood memories for her, she was also very nervous. She pressed a hand to her chest to try and slow the quickening of her heartbeat. She had had other jobs before, so the experience of going to a job interview was nothing new to her. Though for some reason, she could never get used to that experience. She never got less nervous about it. She had bought the appropriate clothing to wear for this interview, a bright floral skirt, baby pink top and white woollen cardigan. She had rehearsed the answers she would give to the questions the manager would very likely ask her more times than she cared to mention. She had made all the necessary preparations for this, but nothing she did could ease her anxiety, her fear of screwing up. She wanted this job, wanted to work at this place so badly, but that only seemed to make her fear worse. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if she didn’t get the job, she knew that. There were other jobs she could easily apply for should she fail this one. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that not getting this job in particular would crush her.

Taking another deep breath, she straightened herself and a look of determination crossed her features. _Just stay calm and keep focused_ , she told herself before finally mustering up the courage to move forward. Putting her hand to the glass, she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The restaurant wasn’t nearly as busy as in the days of her childhood. She spotted several families sitting at the tables in the main dining area, the children laughing, cheering and singing along to songs which were all too familiar to her, but it was nowhere near as packed as she remembered. Despite that though, everything in this restaurant was exactly as she remembered it. Multi-coloured party hats lined the long tables, which were covered with sparkly plastic tablecloths. The entrance to the arcade section could be seen clearly in one corner of the room. She looked and spotted several little kids running around, playing at the various consoles or riding on the merry-go-round. Another corner where toddlers sat at small plastic tables, scribbling pictures of the mascots with different coloured crayons. Her eyes then landed on the prize corner where she could spot little plushie versions of the characters sitting on the counter or the shelves behind it, just waiting to be won by some lucky children. She smiled again as all the fond memories of this place and the amazing activities that could be enjoyed here flooded her mind.

She looked at her watch. She still had ten minutes before the manager would be expecting her in his office for the interview. She decided she would pass the time by walking around the pizzeria for a little bit, also as a way to try and calm her nerves a bit more. 

She went towards the show stage and looked up at the three animatronic mascots as they danced and swayed in their jerky, awkward movements. Their mouthparts moved up and down in time with the lyrics as they sang and their glassy eyes turned this way and that around the audience that watched them. She smiled still as she examined each and every robot in turn. Bonnie, the purple rabbit who wore a bright red bow tie and strummed on a guitar of the same colour, his large ears bending back and forth every so often. Chica, the yellow chicken wore a bib adorned with the words, “LET’S EAT!!!” in yellow and purple bubble letters amongst a confetti background. In one hand, she held a plate which bore a large cupcake with large yellow eyes staring out from the bright pink frosting. But most of all, Freddy Fazbear himself, the somewhat distinguished brown bear and lead singer of the band, who sported a black top hat and bow tie. In one paw, he held a microphone, into which he sang melodiously.

Iona beamed even more as she watched Freddy perform. Back in the good old days when she was a regular, Freddy had always been her favourite character. Of course, she loved all the characters too, they were all special to her in their own way. She was always intrigued whenever Chica shared some of her knowledge about food and she always laughed at Bonnie’s stupid jokes, but for some reason, Freddy Fazbear was the one who had captured her heart the most. She was even willing to admit that she had something of a crush on the bear, odd as that sounded. Whenever her parents brought her here, she would insist that they sit as close to the stage as possible so she could get a good view of Freddy as he performed. Indeed, it was very difficult for her parents to get her to eat her pizza, she was so entranced by Freddy whenever he was in the middle of a song. Even now, she had no idea what it was about him that drew her so much to him. Was it his beautiful, baritone voice as he sang, or was it his polite, friendly and very gentlemanly demeanour whenever he addressed the audience or came off stage to talk to the kids, especially her? Whatever the reason, Freddy was always the character that Iona admired the most and was therefore the one that held the biggest place in her heart. Even now, as she was watching them perform in their usual fashion, she became very aware of just how drawn she was to the robot bear in front of her, just as she was all those years ago.

“Hi, Freddy,” she whispered, barely hearing herself over the loud blaring music and the clear pre-recorded voices as they sang. “Long time no see.”

Finally turning away from the singing animals, her eyes fell upon a family seated not far from where she stood and laughed quietly to herself. 

“I forgot they made those,” she said under her breath again when she saw that one of the parents was eating a strawberry cheesecake which had been cleverly decorated to look like a pepperoni pizza.

She walked around the tables and came upon another room near the corner of the main dining area. Stepping through the doorway, she entered into a smaller room, which also had tables and chairs around it which looked very similar to the ones outside. This room would have been reserved for private parties, as she remembered. She looked ahead of herself and was face to face with purple starry curtains which she instantly remembered concealed another smaller stage behind it.

 _Of course_ , she thought to herself. _This is where Foxy lived._

She was in Pirate Cove, home of the great Foxy the Pirate, a jaunty and energetic pirate fox and, in her opinion, the greatest pirate captain ever to sail the Seven Seas. Even with his curtains closed, she could see him now, a large but lean red fox with a black eyepatch over one eye and a shiny silver hook where one of his paws should’ve been. He wore tan-coloured trousers and some of his sharp teeth were coloured to look as if they were made of gold.

Many of the children, she remembered, were afraid of him, as he looked a lot fiercer than the other three robots which resided in the main room outside, but Iona always loved him and felt that his feral appearance was only appropriate for a pirate such as him. Some of her friends had birthday parties, to which she had been invited, booked for them here and she could remember each of them like they only occurred the day before. She could hear the jolly accordion music which would play just as Foxy’s show was about to start. She could hear his gruff voice and piratical accent as the fearsome but friendly fox greeted the children and welcomed him to his pirate crew. She could see the background behind him, a tropical island with white sand, palm trees against a bright blue sky and a gorgeous turquoise coloured ocean, his pirate ship looming proudly behind him. She remembered how he would tell the children exciting, swashbuckling pirate adventure stories or simply sing them rousing sea shanties. An adventure with good old Captain Foxy, though short and imaginary, was always a rare treat for Iona. He really was a jolly addition to the Fazbear family. 

She was quickly roused from her happy memories of Foxy when she finally noticed the sign placed in front of his curtains and her heart sank when she read the words, “Sorry, Out of Order” written on it. So that was why this room was empty, she mused. Foxy was out of order, so it’d be pointless for children to come back here.

 _Poor Foxy_ , she thought sadly, hoping that this was only a temporary condition for the fox until someone would come in and fix him.

Iona finally left Pirate Cove and walked across the main dining area towards the counter, where a young woman with blonde hair tied back in a bun stood counting cash, or at least that’s what she guessed she was doing anyway.

“Um, excuse me?” she asked politely. 

The woman looked up at Iona and smiled. “Yes sweetie, what can I do for you?” she asked.

“Could you tell me where the manager’s office is?” asked Iona again. “I have a job interview very shortly. My name’s Iona Blackburn.”

“Oh, sure!” piped the woman cheerfully. Pointing in the direction behind Iona, she said, “The manager’s office is just down the East Hallway there. Can’t miss it.”

“Thank you,” Iona replied with a nod before turning and heading across the dining room towards the corridor where she was instructed to go.

She walked halfway down the hall and stopped at the door which had the words, “Manager’s Office” printed on the glass in black letters. She couldn’t see inside because it was covered with a white blind on the other side. She knocked on the glass and waited a few seconds before the door opened and an overweight man of average height with small eyes appeared before her. He was balding, the little hair he had left was light brown and combed over to one side. Iona took him to be either in his late thirties or early forties.

“Iona Blackburn?” she announced herself to him.

“Ah, pleased to meet you, Iona!” he cried cheerfully in the same friendly voice she recognised over the phone a few days prior, holding his hand out to her politely. “I’m Lenny. Lenny Bailey.”

Iona returned the man’s smile as she took his chubby hand in hers, shaking it firmly. “Pleased to meet you too, Mr. Bailey,” she replied pleasantly.

“Oh, please,” he said with a smile, holding his free hand up humbly. “Just ‘Lenny’ will do, thanks.” Then, motioning into his office, he added, “Please come in.”

“Thank you,” replied Iona again as she followed Lenny inside before he shut the door behind her. She looked around his office and saw copies of the same posters of the animatronic characters she had seen hung on the walls of the main restaurant outside. Alongside these were framed photos of Lenny smiling and standing next to some of the other employees. There were a few tall cabinets here and there, each with some kind of potted plant perched on top of them.

“Please take a seat,” said Lenny, gesturing towards one of the few chairs facing his desk, which Iona also noted was littered with a phone, some sheets of paper, a plastic holder containing various pens and pencils, a computer and keyboard and even some miniature plushes of the restaurant’s mascots.

“Thanks,” said Iona again, sitting down in the middle chair as Lenny took a seat behind his desk.

“Would you like any pizza?” he asked, turning a large cardboard box with the pizzeria’s logo around so she could see the pepperoni pizza that was big enough to serve at least four people inside. Iona could see that a couple of slices were already gone.

Iona shook her head. “No, thanks,” she said politely. “I’m not hungry.”

“More for me then,” Lenny smiled as he turned the box back around so that his pizza was facing him once again before leaning forward to look at Iona again, his hands clasped together formally. “So, what made you wanna work at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza?”

“Well, this was my favourite place to be as a child,” Iona answered, still beaming brightly herself. She could tell right away that she and the manager would get along just fine, provided that she got the job she was about to be interviewed for that is. “My parents would bring me here as often as I could persuade them. Which was quite a lot.”

Lenny laughed heartily at that last part.

Iona giggled quietly herself before she continued, “So when I saw your add in the paper, I guess you could say I was overcome with a really sentimental sense of nostalgia and I just couldn’t resist picking up the phone, you know?”

Lenny smiled again. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re so eager to work with us,” he said. “So, without further ado, let’s get on with this interview, shall we?”

_~*Five minutes later*~_

“Congratulations, Iona!” chirped Lenny, shaking Iona enthusiastically by the hand. “You got the job!”

“What, really?” asked Iona, astonished. “There’s no one else on the waiting list?”

Lenny sighed sadly. “Well, no,” he answered solemnly. “Not many people are very keen on working here these days. We never get that much in the way of customers anymore either. To be honest, I was really surprised when you called the other day.”

“Oh… is that because of what happened eighteen years ago?” Iona asked, raising an eyebrow.

Just then, Lenny just stared at Iona, his mouth agape. In his small eyes, she saw the exact same fearful horror she would see in her parents whenever she tried to ask them about it. “Eighteen years ago?” he asked. “N-no…? I-I don’t know anything about that. What happened here eighteen years ago?”

Iona stared at him, her eyes narrowed as she was not so convinced that this man knew nothing about what had happened. Particularly not by the way he looked at her and how he stuttered just now. “Don’t you know?” she asked. “You are the manager, after all.”

“Uh…” Lenny shook his head “N-no. No, that was… that would’ve been before my time, I’m afraid. Why? Do you know?”

Iona shook her head. “No, I don’t know either,” she replied. “My parents would never talk to me about it. All I remember is someone…” she trailed off, not really wanting to say who it was for fear of sounding crazy. “Someone brought me back to my parents and urged them to take me home. A few days later, my parents told me we were going to move out of town, and I never found out why.”

There was a bit of an awkward silence before Lenny spoke up again. “Uh, l-listen…” he stammered, standing from his desk. “Since you’ve got the job now, why don’t I show you to where your office will be?” Walking around his desk, he motioned for Iona to stand and began to lead her towards the door. “I’ll introduce you to one of our daytime guards, Jeremy. He does the afternoon shift, so he should be in now. He can talk you through your duties.”

Iona couldn’t shake the feeling of confusion as she allowed her new boss to lead her out of his office and down the corridor outside. She really didn’t believe Lenny when he said he didn’t know what happened eighteen years ago. The fact that he was so reluctant to talk about it was just further proof that he did in fact know all about it. Not only that, even though nobody would ever tell her about it, she knew now more than ever that whatever it was that occurred must’ve been truly awful, and something as awful as that must surely have been talked about a lot at the time, right? So why would no one talk about it now? Especially not to someone who was so blissfully ignorant to the whole thing?

Very soon, Lenny had taken Iona to the end of the corridor, when they came to an open doorway which led into a small room.

“So, this will be your office,” Lenny told her as me motioned her to enter the room. 

Stepping in, the first thing she noticed was a young man with shoulder length brown hair seated back in a swivel chair and sipping on a soda in one hand and looking into some kind of portable screen in the other. He wore a uniform which consisted of black trousers, a pale blue button-up shirt and a dark blue cap. When he heard Lenny and Iona approaching, he looked up at them from the screen in his hand.

“Iona, this is Jeremy, one of our day guards,” Lenny introduced the man to her.

“Nice to meet you, Jeremy,” Iona smiled politely, holding her hand out to him.

Jeremy leaned over to place his soda on the desk in front of him before taking Iona’s hand into his own. “Hey, how’s it going?” he replied casually, shaking her hand.

“Jeremy, this is Iona,” said Lenny. “She’s the girl who wants to be the new night guard.”

“New night guard, huh?” Jeremy repeated, giving Iona a lopsided smile. “Man, do I feel sorry for _you_.”

Iona paused and just stared at Jeremy. “Feel sorry for me? Why?” she asked.

Jeremy opened his mouth to speak but said nothing as Lenny nervously cut in, “I-it’s just that Jeremy here used to work as the night guard himself, at a different Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza before he was transferred to work one of the day shifts at this branch. So he probably found working the nightshift to be really quite tiring and stressful.”

“That and the fact that every Freddy Fazbear’s has gone through more night guards than Henry VIII went through wives,” muttered Jeremy, who had just gone back to looking at his screen.

There was another awkward pause, in which Iona began to grow suspicious about the fairly ominous remarks Jeremy was making about her new job until once again, Lenny broke it by changing the subject back to the matter at hand.

“Jeremy, since you’re still on duty and Iona is going to be working with us now, you couldn’t possibility show her through her duties? You know, show her how the job is done?” he asked.

“Sure thing,” replied Jeremy, repositioning himself so he was actually sitting up in his chair before waving Iona over. “Come over here, Iona.”

Iona obeyed, walking up to him and bending down until she was level with the day guard.

“Right, so,” he began, pointing at the screen in his hand. “This is your camera monitor.”

“Okay,” replied Iona, nodding as she looked at the screen, which showed live footage of the animatronics performing on the show stage.

Jeremy pointed again. “In the corner there, there’s a map of all the security cameras situated all around the building,” he went on, indicating the little map in the bottom right corner of the screen with numbered squares on it. “Also, this screen is touch sensitive, so whenever you wanna look at a different camera,” he paused before touching his fingertip to one of the numbered squares, causing the image to instantly change to some kids sitting around the party tables with their families. Some of them were facing towards the stage and cheering and some were running around with excitement. He pressed another square and the image switched to a room she had never seen before, which had a table with a bare endoskeleton seated on it and shelves littered with spare mascot heads. “You just need to touch one of these squares. Those are your cameras.”

“Oh, that’s so cool!” Iona chirped, impressed by such a unique device. 

“Also,” Jeremy continued, pointing over to the doorway on the other side of the room before motioning back to the one Lenny and Iona had just come through. “If you look, there are two buttons beside each door. One will turn the hallway lights on and off and the other will open and close the doors.”

Iona glanced between the two doors, noticing the large buttons labelled “LIGHT” and “DOOR”. “Um, okay,” she answered, confused. “But why would I need those anyway?”

Before Jeremy could answer, Lenny quickly went up behind her and placed both his hands on her shoulders, pulling her away from Jeremy’s chair and guiding her back towards the door. “Thank you, Jeremy,” he said aloud. “I think Iona pretty much gets the gist of her duties now, so that officially brings the job interview to a close.”

“All right,” Jeremy answered nonchalantly, as if not noticing how quickly the subject had been changed. He waved at Iona and called, “See ya, Iona. Good luck on your new job.”

“Y-yeah, thanks for everything, Jeremy. Bye!” she called back as Lenny continued gently pushing her back down the corridor towards the main dining area.

Once the two were a good distance from the security office, Lenny slowed their pace to a more casual one before turning and smiling pleasantly at his newest employee. “So, Iona,” he said. “Do you have any more questions before I give you your uniform and send you home?”

Deciding that it was futile to ask about the restaurant’s past and why Jeremy pitied her in getting the night security position, Iona asked the last question about her job that she could think of. “Yeah, actually. Why would a children’s entertainment pizzeria need security guards anyway?”

“The most important position in the whole establishment,” Lenny told her, stopping and turning to face her in a slightly more serious manner. “You see, the mascots performing on the stage there are pretty much the face of the restaurant. It’s not called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza for nothing, you know. The characters hold a special place in the hearts of children, perhaps also teens and adults who came here long ago when they were children themselves, very much like you, I’m sure.”

“Mm-hm,” Iona answered with a nod.

“But unfortunately, a place like this will also attract all kinds of troublemakers like vandals and arsons,” continued Lenny. “You know, kids who will wanna break in after the place has been closed and perhaps try to steal something or damage, even destroy our beloved robot performers. And let’s face it, what would this place be without Freddy and his friends to bring joy and laughter to the children here?”

Iona nodded again. “Quite right,” she agreed.

“So your job, Iona,” Lenny went on. “Is basically to keep watch on this place during the night and make sure no unwanted visitors come in and mess with the mascots. Iona, you’re in charge of protecting this place and making sure the kids here are kept happy, knowing that their favourite characters can still perform for them.”

“All right, I understand,” Iona said, standing firm before her new employer. “I’ll guard this place with my life.”

“Good, that’s just the kind of attitude I like to see in my employees,” smiled Lenny again, patting Iona on the shoulder encouragingly as he led her back to his office. “Now, come with me for a sec and I’ll get you your uniform.”

Upon taking her back into the office, Lenny opened a tall cabinet behind his desk and produced a security uniform identical to the one Jeremy wore, hanging from a coat-hanger and held in a clear plastic covering. Then he opened a drawer in his desk and took out a set of keys which he handed to her along with the uniform.

“To let yourself in when you come to work,” he explained. “Our evening guard finishes an hour before you start. Also, I would like you to lock up after yourself when you clock out.”

“Sure thing,” Iona answered, taking both uniform and keys from him. “So when do you want me to start?”

Lenny shrugged, though he was still smiling. “You can start tonight if you wish,” he said.

Iona smiled. “Okay,” she replied, nodding. “I’ll be here tonight, midnight on the dot.”

“That’s my girl,” said Lenny cheerfully. “Now, you’d better get home now and get some sleep. You’ve got a long night ahead of you and you’ll wanna make sure you have the energy for it.”

Iona chuckled. “Yes, you’re quite right,” she agreed. “Well, thank you so much for giving me this job. I really appreciate it.” Turning, she waved as she called back, “Bye, Lenny.”

“See ya, Iona!” he called after her, sitting back down at his desk. “Make sure you’re not late on your first night on the job.”

Iona laughed again. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here exactly when you need me to be. Later!”

She closed the door politely after herself and proceeded to walk through the main dining area towards the exit. On her way, she glanced back towards the animatronics on the stage. They had finished their song and now stood in their positions completely motionless. Or so she thought. She turned her gaze towards the double glass but stopped suddenly.

“What the…?” She took a couple of steps back and looked up at the robots again to see that their eyes seemed to be completely fixed… on _her_!? Still watching them, she narrowed her eyes as took a few steps forward and then back to where she was and sure enough, the animals’ glass orbs continued to follow her every direction she went. She held their gazes for a short moment, a weird feeling starting to rise in the pit of her stomach. 

Suddenly, she wondered if the customers had noticed. Turning to face the dining tables, she saw that all the families were still eating their pizzas while the kids continued to laugh and play around them. Not one of them had noticed.

She turned to look at the animatronics again, their gaze still fixed upon her, intently it would seem. Although she decided then just to head towards the doors, she still held their gazes as she walked until she was too far away from the stage to look behind her anymore. Still, the robots’ eyes followed her closely to the doors, even after she turned her head back to look in front of her.

Iona left the restaurant, still unable to believe what she had seen. Was she imagining it, or could those robots have somehow recognised her from years ago? If so, did they know of her taking up the position of night guard? 

She shook her head to dismiss the ridiculous thought from her mind, deciding that maybe she really was just seeing things after all. Yet she still felt that there was something odd going on with that restaurant now. When she was a child, it was packed with children and their families. Having come back after all these years, she had seen that there was nowhere near as many customers as there was before. Not only that, but Lenny had mentioned the fact that not many people were willing to work there either.

_Why won’t anyone talk about what happened here eighteen years ago?_

That had to be the explanation. Whatever it was that had happened, she knew for sure now that it must’ve been a horrific tragedy. For not only was everyone so reluctant to speak of it, but it had obviously caused a huge and lasting affect on the pizzeria business wise. And for a disaster to still affect a place many years after it had occurred must truly have been the worst and most devastating kind of disaster ever to hit a restaurant. Though it still frustrated her so much that not one person who remembered it was willing to discuss it, especially since she seemed to be the only one who still knew nothing of it.

Well, that really was all the more reason for her to take this job. Even if her parents, the manager and all the employees or customers weren't willing to speak of it, then she was just going to have to figure out the truth for herself. She would start by working at the very restaurant where it took place, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.


	4. Chapter 3: The First Night

It was nighttime when Iona walked up to the pizzeria for the second time that day. It was a fairly warm night, so she felt no need to wear her coat, though she still carried it with her on her arm just in case. As she walked, she couldn’t help but strut a little. Dressed in her new uniform, she felt powerful, she felt tough. She was a security guard now, protecter of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. If anyone wanted to break in and tamper with the animatronics, rob or ransack this precious child’s haven in general, they would have to go through _her_ first!

She quickly forgot her somewhat arrogant sense of pride however when she took the keys Lenny had given her out of her pocket as she approached the glass doors. She slid a key into the lock and turned it before pushing the door open and walked inside. Once the door was closed behind her, she locked it again before turning to face the main dining area.

“Sure is dark,” she muttered quietly to herself, instantly noticing the darkness that engulfed the dining room, save for the overhead lights which hung over the dining tables, causing the party hats and plastic tablecloths to glitter a bit more than they would when the rest of the lights were on during the day. She took a few steps forward and looked around, listening for voices or movement. All was quiet; the restaurant was empty. She was the only living thing in the building now. “Guess everybody’s gone home now.”

She took the flashlight from her belt and flicked the switch, causing a large, bright orb of light to appear on the black and white tiled floor. Without knowing what possessed her to do so, she turned the torch up towards the main stage, where the three main animatronics stood, still as statues. She shone her light on each of them in turn, back and forth along the stage. Freddy Fazbear still held his microphone, his bottom jaw lowered as if frozen in mid-song. Bonnie still gripped his guitar in both paws, fingers hovering over the strings as if he would begin strumming again whenever the mood struck him. Chica still held out her cupcake as if waiting to offer it to any hungry passerby who might take interest in it.

In the light of day, the robots looked cheerful and friendly, even when standing motionless the way they did now. But in the dark, with the little light from Iona’s torch and the faint glow from the table lights to illuminate them, they had a more sinister demeanour as they stared out from where they stood with blank, unblinking eyes. In the dim light, they reminded her of gargoyles on a gothic cathedral.

Iona had to admit to herself that she was a bit creeped out by this, and yet she could not curb the urge to perform the same little experiment she had done earlier that day. She walked in front of the stage, watching the robots, wondering if their eyes would follow her across the room again. They didn’t. They just continued to stare out as if focusing on something only they could see, like they didn’t even notice that she was right in front of them this time.

“I knew it,” she sighed, realising that she must’ve imagined seeing them staring at her all along. Of course, she had. They were only activated during the day when the restaurant was open and families brought their children in to watch them. When the doors were locked and the lights were turned off, so were the animatronics.

Deciding now to just head to her office, she just noticed the flickering light in the west hall, lighting it up in short, fast spurts. She shook her head, disappointed in Lenny for having overlooked the faulty lightbulb, but then realising that maybe he couldn’t afford to have it replaced after all, what with the drastic decrease in customers this restaurant had seen and everything. She decided then that that might’ve explained how little she would be paid for this job too.

The flickering from the dying lightbulb began to hurt her eyes, so she walked around the tables, flicking the plastic glittery stars which hung by strings from the ceiling with her finger as she went. She had decided to go to her office via the east hall instead, where no light shone at all. It was much darker than the dining room and therefore spookier, but she felt that that would be preferable to potentially getting a headache from walking through the other corridor. She aimed her flashlight in front of her to guide her way through the pitch black hallway, but quickly noticed another light up ahead. The security office.

As she walked through the corridor, she curiously flicked her flashlight back and forth between both walls and saw that they were lined with children’s drawings. They seemed to be depicting varying images of what were supposed to be the animatronic characters. Some of them showed the them singing together, some showed them talking to the children, giving them presents or simply hugging them, some showed the children smiling as they stood with their families next to one of the characters.

Finally, she reached her office, turning off her flashlight and putting it back on her belt as she stepped in. She squinted her eyes, the sudden bright light from the overhead bulb a bit too much for her after having just travelled through the dark, feeling like she had just come out of a movie theatre. After a few seconds, her eyes readjusted to the light and she took a minute to examine her new office.

The swivel chair had been placed neatly under the desk, on top of which the camera monitor sat waiting for her. Several small television sets littered the desk also, which Iona supposed was part of the restaurant’s old CCTV system, which she also guessed was no longer needed now that she had the portable screen at hand. A fan was oscillating in the centre of the desk too and a small replica of Chica’s cupcake was perched on top of one of the old camera monitors. Next to the fan sat a telephone, one of the old models that still attached the receiver to the machine with a coiled cable. 

On the wall behind the desk hung more children’s drawings and a poster showing the three main characters performing on stage with the word, “CELEBRATE!” in large, bright bubble letters on it. Iona tilted her head to the side as she stared at the poster. It seemed that Freddy’s nose was protruding from the picture and it looked as though it was made of rubber. Curiously, she stepped closer to the desk, leaned forward a little and reached her hand up toward’s Freddy’s face. She pressed his nose and it instantly made a loud, high-pitched _squeak!_ sound at the contact. Iona giggled to herself at the adorable sound. _I wonder if the real Freddy’s nose does that too_ , she thought.

She looked at her watch. It was 11:59 pm, a minute before she would start her shift. Hanging her coat around the back of the swivel chair, she pulled it out from under the desk and sat down, picking up the portable camera monitor and switched it on. An image of the animatronics on the stage instantly appeared as they continued to stare blankly out into the darkness ahead of them. Iona only noticed for the first time, now that she was the one in control of the cameras, that the footage wasn’t of the best quality. The screen was pretty hazy and static buzzed across it endlessly. Still, she was thankful that she could at least see what she was looking at.

As well as the footage of the animatronics, she could also see the map of the restaurant, the numbered squares indicating which rooms all the different cameras were in, the map she had noticed when Jeremy was showing her how to use this device earlier. She also noticed a large red dot blinking on and off in the top left corner, indicating that the footage was being recorded. On the other side, she also noticed that the time read 12:00 am. She nodded in satisfaction; she had made it to her new job in good time on the first night. On the bottom left corner, she saw a green bar with the number 100% above it.

_Must be the battery bar_ , she mused.

Turning her attention back to the map, she touched one of the squares and the image instantly changed to the dining area. A shiver ran through her as she looked at the tables lined up in the dark. Empty without any children sitting around them, laughing or singing. The rainbow-coloured party hats were lined neatly at each chair, like a line of soldiers standing to attention, waiting for their next command.

She touched another screen and was taken to the storage room. The empty mascot heads on the shelves looked creepier in the dark, especially with those eyeless sockets and their jaws open slightly in toothy grins. She touched yet another square and found herself looking at the bathrooms. A couple of large pizza decorations hung from the wall between the entrances to the male and female restrooms. Another camera she touched took her to the kitchen, she knew as she saw the word “Kitchen” just above the map, similar to the rest of the cameras throughout the building it would seem. Only this time she was met with a pitch black screen with the words “CAMERA DISABLED, AUDIO ONLY” at the top.

“Geez, how broke can this place be that they can’t even afford to replace a busted camera?” she muttered under her breath.

She touched the camera which showed her Pirate Cove with the curtains still drawn and the “Out of Order” sign still standing. She then flicked to the camera viewing the supply closet where she saw a shelf containing various labelled bottles, a mop, a broom and other cleaning equipment. Lastly, she looked at both hallways and their end corners which were situated just outside her office.

She had started to flick through all the cameras again, trying to familiarise herself with the layout until suddenly, the phone started to ring, a singular but prolonged _brrrrrrriiiiiiiing!_ sound. She turned away from the screen in her hand and stared at the phone, confused.

“Strange,” she breathed. “Who could possibly be calling a restaurant at this time of night?”

The phone gave another long ring and Iona reached over to answer it, but the noise clicked off, as if the person on the other end had hung up, and a jaunty voice, one she had never heard before since returning to the pizzeria, began to speak to her from the machine.

“ _Hello! Hello, hello?_ ” the voice called. “ _Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I’m finishing up my last week now as a matter of fact, so…_ ”

“Who is this?” Iona asked herself. “A former employee?”

“ _I know it can be a bit overwhelming_ ,” the voice continued. “ _But I’m here to tell you there’s nothing to worry about. You’ll do fine._ ”

Overwhelming? What could be so overwhelming about a job like this, she wondered.

“ _So let’s just focus on getting you through your first week, okay?_ ” the voice went on.

“Okay,” Iona replied, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Why would a former employee take the time to leave a message for new workers to help them get settled in on their first week? It was very thoughtful, she thought, but it wasn’t exactly common practice.

“ _Uh, let’s see, first there’s an introductory greeting from the company that I’m supposed to read_ ,” said the voice. “ _Uh, it’s kind of a legal thing, you know._ ”

“Hm, must just be an automated thing for new employees,” Iona muttered to herself.

And so, the recorded voice on the phone began to read to her from the greeting he mentioned. “ _Um, ’Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person.’_ ”

“Wait, what!?” Iona was taken aback by that last word. “What did he just say?”

“ _‘Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred_ ,’” the voice continued to read. “ _‘A missing person report will be filed within ninety days or as soon as property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached and the carpets have been replaced.’ Blah, blah, blah…_ ”

Iona just stared hard at the phone as she listened to everything that was being said. Damage to a person? Death? Missing person report? 

_What the hell is going on here?_ She would’ve said it out loud, but she was just so speechless by all the things she was hearing right now. And what was it that would have to be cleaned from the premises anyway? Blood? Scooped out entrails? The decomposing remains of a disembowelled corpse? She sincerely hoped it was none of those things.

“ _Now, that might sound bad, I know_ ,” the voice on the phone told her with an edge of sympathy, as if he had been hearing her thoughts. “ _But there’s really nothing to worry about._ ”

That’s the second time he had said that, that there was nothing to worry about. Iona felt that he might’ve been overstating that fact somewhat, and it was then that she began to suspect that maybe there really _was_ something to worry about in this job after all. 

“ _Uh, the animatronic characters here…_ do _get a bit quirky at night_ ,” the voice went on.

Iona started again. The animatronics? Quirky? At night? Now, why did she suddenly get the impression that that was the very thing that she would have to worry about, even though this was Freddy Fazbear and his friends they were talking about here? And Freddy Fazbear, sweet, gentle, friendly Freddy Fazbear would never lose his temper or seek to harm anyone, right? Right?

“ _But do I blame them? No!_ ” the voice stated, almost defensively. “ _If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and_ I _never got a bath, I’d probably be a bit irritable at night too._ ”

“Heh, good point,” said Iona, nodding in agreement. Another result from the place going bankrupt could very well have been that the animatronics could no longer be cleaned or well cared for. That along with being made to sing all those childish songs day after day for two long decades did not sound like a happy existence at all. She felt at that moment that just about _anyone_ could turn irritable at night if they were forced to live such a life, human or robot.

“ _So remember_ ,” the voice continued further. “ _These characters hold a special place in the hearts of children and we need to show them a little respect. Right? Okay._ ”

Respect? Why did Iona instantly have a bad feeling about hearing that word? Though of course she would show the characters respect without having to be told to. These characters were part of her childhood after all, so they held a special in her heart too. But the very fact that these robots' actually _needing_ to be shown respect seemed to be a vital thing to remember, especially being told that just after hearing that they became quirky and irritable during the night seemed to make her feel even more uneasy.

“ _So just be aware_ ,” the voice carried on. “ _The characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they’re left in some kind of free-roaming mode at night. Uh, something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long._ ”

“Oh, great…” muttered Iona. Having seen the characters walk around the restaurant during the day many times herself as a child, she might not have seen what was so wrong with letting them walk around at night too. She would also have been understanding as to why, if it meant not letting their servomotors lock up and therefore their systems shut down permanently. Though now after being told everything about their nocturnal quirkiness, she didn’t feel particularly comfortable with the idea anymore.

“ _Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too_ ,” the voice mentioned. “ _But then there was the Bite of ’87._ ”

“The ‘Bite’?” repeated Iona, her concern beginning to really escalate at this point. “What ‘Bite’?”

“ _Yeah…_ ” said the voice, trailing off as if he were reliving a rather unpleasant memory. “ _It’s amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?_ ”

“What!?” Iona almost cried, shocked. No wonder these guys were only allowed to walk around at night after the restaurant was closed now. One of them had obviously malfunctioned somehow and attacked a customer, actually resulting the loss of their _frontal lobe_! And that was supposed to have happened in 1987, a couple of years after she herself had left. It had to have. They were still roaming the building amongst the customers that day. How else would she have been…?

Well, at least the customers were safe from that sort of thing now, but what about _her_ , the night guard? She had to work in this place after closing hours, during which the animatronics, who had severely injured a someone once before, could freely roam around the empty rooms. Who was to say there wasn’t a chance of her having a chunk of her own brain bitten out too!? It was at this moment that Iona started to have seconds thoughts about this new job. However, if she thought that knowing of that unfortunate incident alone was bad enough, nothing could’ve prepared her for what she was about to hear next.

“ _Now, concerning your safety_ ,” the voice began. “ _The only real risk to you as the night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters… Uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won’t recognise you as a person._ ”

“What?”

“ _They’ll pr - they’ll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now, since that’s against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, they’ll probably try to… forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit._ ”

“Wha - are you serious!?” Iona just about screamed at the top of her lungs, just managing to prevent herself from crying out _too_ loudly, fearing that the animatronics might hear her, even though she knew they very likely saw her come into the building anyway.

“ _Um… now, that wouldn’t be so bad_ ,” continued the voice. “ _If the suits themselves weren’t filled with crossbeams, wires and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So you can imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort… and death._ ”

Gasping, Iona brought a hand up over her mouth as her heart just about skipped a beat upon hearing the word “death”. 

“No,” she breathed, shaking her head in disbelief as her entire childhood began to crumble right before her. “That can’t be right.” 

How could it be? How could these cheerful, kid-friendly characters become so deadly at night? Was this this guy’s idea of a joke? If it was, Iona failed to see the humour in it.

Unfortunately for her, the voice had more to say about her impending doom. “ _Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask, heh._ ”

“No!” Iona almost sobbed, clasping both hands over her mouth this time. As if being told exactly how she would die if these robots caught her wasn’t bad enough, this rather explicit detail of what state her body would be in when she’d be found the next morning just made her fear even worse. Crushed and ripped to shreds while being forcefully stuffed inside a mechanical suit by one of the beloved characters from her childhood? Nothing could’ve sounded more terrible to her at that moment. No betrayal could have hurt more deeply.

“ _Y-yeah, they don’t tell you these things when you sign up_ ,” the voice stated awkwardly.

“Well, they bloody should!” Iona shouted at the machine, her American accent reverting back its original Scottish one, like it usually did whenever she was angry or upset and, as well as being absolutely frightened, she was very, _very_ angry right now! Had Lenny known about this? Had Jeremy? Had the manager and the other employees known about the dangers Iona would face whilst working the night shift here and just conspired to keep it all a secret from her? Of course, they did! 

So that was why Jeremy felt sorry for her! He had worked the night shift himself at another Freddy Fazbear’s. He had dealt with killer animatronics roaming the halls too and had lived to tell the tale, or at least he would’ve told her had Lenny not kept interrupting him during her job interview. 

Lenny had seemed like such a nice guy too! She just couldn’t believe that he would so willingly let her work this dangerous, life-threatening job under him, and at such a low pay too. How could he care so little for the safety of another human being, especially his own employees, that he wouldn’t even try to persuade her to find a job elsewhere, or at least let her be warned of the dangers of her new job? Boy, if she lived to see the morning, she would have a firm talk with him the minute he stepped through the door.

“ _But hey, first day should be a breeze. I’ll chat with you tomorrow_ ,” the voice said, obviously so sure that she really _would_ live to see that tomorrow. Damn him for insisting that there was nothing to worry about and then tell her very casually that these robots might try to kill her should they see her in the same breath! Talk about giving out mixed messages! “ _Uh, check those cameras and remember to close the doors only if_ absolutely necessary _. Gotta conserve power. All right, goodnight._ ”

“No, please!” Iona cried, grabbing the phone and picking it up. She then began to shout at the machine, begging the recorded voice to stay with her. “No! No, don’t go! No please, come back! Dude, dude, DUDE!!!”

But it was too late. The message had ended and the phone switched itself off. Once again, Iona was all alone, all alone in a restaurant which housed free-roaming robot animals that she only just learned might come and kill her in the most gruesome way she had ever heard. And it wasn’t as if she could run anywhere should one get too close. If she remembered the layout of the building correctly, the entrance to the pizzeria was at the main dining area, way at the opposite end of the building where her office was. Right where the animatronics were. She did not remember seeing any backdoors on either of the corridors which separated said office from the dining room either. She would’ve been backed into a corner with no hope of escaping.

Hyperventilating, Iona looked at the doors on either side of her office. She saw the buttons Jeremy had pointed out to her, the ones that would switch on the hall lights and close the doors. Now she understood why she needed them. She wanted to go over and test one out, but staring into the gaping black abyss before her, she was afraid to move, in case something was already lurking in the darkness, waiting to snatch her should she get close enough. 

She looked at her camera monitor again and touched the square that took her to the show stage camera. To her relief, all three animatronics remained firmly in their positions. Though how long they would stay there, she had no idea. She then flicked through a few of the other cameras until she found Pirate Cove. The curtains were still drawn and the “Out of Order” sign was still in the spot where she had first seen it. 

_That means I don’t have to worry about him too, right?_

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to prepare herself for the danger which she knew was about to start at any moment. She thought of Jeremy’s remark, about all the Freddy Fazbear branches having gone through so many night guards, and she knew that could only have meant one thing; most, if not all of them, had fallen victim to the animatronics’ nocturnal homicidal malfunctions. Mistaking a human they see after hours for an endoskeleton that still needed to be put into a costume? How could these robots who were programmed to entertain humans every day think that one they saw at night was a metal skeleton? Was it something about the dark that confused their vision? Or did the guy on the phone really not know himself and therefore was just guessing as to why the mascots would stuff any person they saw into an animatronic suit, killing them in the process?

She sighed and shook her head. Lenny wasn’t wrong when he said that she’d be in for a long night. He must’ve known about this, he must have. She was still angry with him for not warning her about this. Since she was the one doing this stupid job, surely she had the right to know the risks she’d be taking. She had no idea what his motives were for doing this, but right now, she really didn’t care. She was determined that should she make it to 6:00 am unscathed, she would either confront him about it in person or write him a strongly worded complaint and then she would quit and apply for another job elsewhere. There were plenty of other vacancies advertised in that newspaper that she quite fancied after all. Good thing she had kept that paper, even after being told she had gotten the first job she had applied for.

It was official now, her happy childhood memories of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza had been shattered. First that mysterious incident which had caused her to have to leave so quickly, that no one would talk about, then finding out that the characters she had loved had had a secret murderous agenda all along. Not only that but also knowing that the company that owned the restaurant seemed to be either ignorant or indifferent to the dangers their workers would face, especially if they took the night shift.

She suddenly wanted to cry, not just out of fear, but also devastation and betrayal. Her whole world had suddenly been turned upside down, and only within the space of a few minutes. Worse still, she feared she might not live long enough to eventually recover from the shock of her discovery, if indeed that was possible.

No! She didn’t believe it! She just _couldn’t_ believe it! She wouldn’t believe it until she saw it with her own eyes. This whole thing must’ve been some kind of sick prank that Lenny had planned with all the other employees, just to freak her out since she had the night shift, all alone with creepy-looking animatronic animals. Perhaps also to cover up what she had wanted to know about this place, about what had happened here so many years ago. Freddy Fazbear just couldn’t hurt a single person, let alone kill them. Besides, even if it _was_ true, she knew she shouldn’t let the shock of this discovery and the fear of a violent, gruesome death get her down. Killer robots or not, she was going to see her first shift through, because she was determined now more than ever to confront Lenny and demand to know just what the hell was going on with this place.

_All right, Fazbear Family_ , she dared them in her mind, successfully pushing all the fear she had felt to the side. _Come and get me and do your worst. I’m ready!_

_~*Two hours later*~_

Iona picked up the camera monitor again and looked at the time. 2:30 am and 60% power. Great, not the best start to a new job. Apparently, she had tried too hard to convince herself that she was brave enough to do this job, especially after listening to everything in that recorded message. Her confidence immediately failed her every time she heard a sudden noise somewhere in the building or thought she saw a movement at the corner of her eye. Whenever she heard something, like mice scuttling or clanking pipes from somewhere in the building, she would immediately check the show stage and Pirate Cove cameras on her monitor. To her relief, all the animatronics were always in their usual spots. Although her conscience always told her that those were the only cameras she would need to check and she really shouldn’t waste any more power, her paranoia would always convince her she had to do so anyway, and again she never found anything untoward. 

She had also mustered up the courage (or rather the stupidity) to go over and check both hallway lights every so often. Thankfully, she never saw anything lurking in the corridors and always quickly turned the lights off again, wanting to save as much energy as possible. She even tried one of the doors at one point. She was pleased, as it slammed down in front of her, to see that it was made out of sturdy iron which seemed to be strong enough to keep any unwanted visitors out of her office. She wished she could keep the doors closed for the entire shift, but she had remembered the instructions given to her by the voice on the phone, telling her she was only to close them if absolutely necessary. 

Check the cameras, turn on a hall light, close a door, it seemed that no matter what she did, it would only cause the power to drain faster. She knew then that once said power had run out, there would be absolutely no way she would be able to protect herself anymore and these animatronics she had been warned could walk around at night would get her for sure.

“Nothing’s happened yet, Iona,” she told herself. “Just keep calm and watch your power.”

That’s right, nothing had happened within the first two and a half hours, despite being told that she was going to be ambushed by a bunch of bloodthirsty, free-roaming robots. Maybe she wasn’t after all. Maybe this was all part of some bizarre prank that Lenny got all the other employees to play on her. Maybe that was just something he did to new employees, just to show them the kind of sense of humour he had. Jeremy’s remark about how many night guards had worked for Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza did sound a bit exaggerated, she thought. Besides, if the animatronics were no longer allowed to walk around during the day for the safety of the customers, why would they let them walk around at night, therefore putting the night guard at risk? Wouldn’t it be common sense, after whatever it was that had happened eighteen years ago, followed by this “Bite” that had been mentioned, to ensure as much safety to every worker and customer as possible?

Then again, the animatronics _did_ appear to be watching her as she left the restaurant that afternoon. She thought she was just imagining it, but…

That was when she suddenly heard it. Music. The same cheerful carnival music she had heard during the day. It was coming from the main dining room. That was odd. There was no one else in the building with her. So how could music be playing during closing hours? Had someone just broken in and started messing around with the equipment, or was this just the beginning of someone’s practical joke?

She opened up her monitor again and checked the dining room camera. She couldn’t see anyone wandering around through the darkness and the dining tables were still tidily set for the next day, with party hats, paper plates and plastic cups.

As a precaution, she switched back to the show stage camera. “Oh, no,” she lamented fearfully, her heart just about leaping in her chest. “Where’s Bonnie?”

The rabbit had indeed left his position on the stage and was nowhere within the camera’s line of site. Freddy and Chica were still standing where they were. Frantically, she began to search the cameras to find Bonnie. She found him on the storage room camera, standing near the open door behind him as if he had just walked into the room when she caught him. Had it not been for the beginning of his rabbit ears sticking out from the top of his head, she would not have been sure if it was him. In what little light that shone in from outside the room, he was just a dark, shadowy figure. His only visible features were his sunken, robotic eyes which seemed to be staring straight into the camera and his blunt teeth which were formed in a way that almost looked like a smile. That smile, that had seemed so friendly in the light of day now looked kind of ghoulish in the dark.

The sinister, half-lidded gaze sent a shiver through her. So it had begun. These animatronic animals that she was supposed to be guarding had finally begun their nightly prowl, just like the voice on the phone had warned her they would.

She really didn’t want to take her eyes off Bonnie at this point, but she was worried about the other animatronics too. So she switched the camera back to view the main stage. Thankfully Freddy and Chica were still there, for now. She checked Pirate Cove, the curtain was still closed.

_Why do I keep checking on Foxy?_ she asked herself. _He’s out of order. He can’t move around like the others can, surely._

She went back to the storage room camera. Bonnie remained rooted to the same spot she had found him in, still staring back at her through the camera lens.

“Right,” she whispered. “You’re still a good distance away from me. So long as it stays that way, I should be fine.”

She wished that she could keep her eyes on him for the whole shift, but the memory that she needed to conserve power was still nagging at her mind. She reluctantly turned the camera off and pressed her fingers to both her temples. She began to take deep breaths again, trying to calm herself down as she willed her heartbeat to slow back down to its normal pace. She honestly had never expected her new job to be anything like this. Alone in an empty building at night, with only these robots for company. That wouldn’t have sounded so bad at first, if she hadn’t been told that they might try to stuff her into a bear suit that would shred her to a pulp.

After another five minutes, she checked the storage room again and Bonnie was still standing where she had first seen him. She checked the stage and Pirate Cove cameras once more; still no change in either of those.

“Okay,” she said. “So far, so good.”

Even now that Bonnie had left his position on the stage, Iona still wished she could check the cameras as little as possible. However, thanks to her gradually escalating fear and paranoia, she couldn’t help but check the cameras every five minutes. She checked the main stage; Freddy and Chica were still in their rightful places. She checked the storage room; Bonnie was still standing in the same spot. She checked Pirate Cove; Foxy was still apparently dead to the world behind those curtains. Every five minutes, she checked all of those cameras and every time, it was all the same. And it just went on and on in this exact same cycle, at least for the next hour or so.

At this point, Iona’s growing anxiety had begun to recede, suddenly feeling as if maybe she wasn’t in as much danger as the voice on the phone had said. However, by the time it was 3:30 am and the power was down to 40%, she couldn’t curb the urge to check the camera again as a precaution. As usual, the first place she checked was the main stage.

“Crap!” she cursed under her breath. “Now Chica’s gone too!”

It was true. Now the chicken had left her spot too. Only Freddy Fazbear remained now. Iona checked the dining room camera again, hoping she would find Chica there. Instead, she found that Bonnie had moved into that room, apparently having gotten bored with the storage room after about an hour. Again, all she could see of him was a rabbit-shaped silhouette, the tops of his ears having bent forward, but he seemed to be rather close to the camera though he had his back to it, facing towards the many party tables ahead of him as they disappeared into the darkness beyond.

She checked both hallway cameras, both nothing seemed to be coming her way just yet. Although she thought it ridiculous that any robot that big could make it there that quickly, she still couldn’t fight the temptation to check the hallway corner cameras. Nothing unwelcome was there yet. 

But she still had to find Chica!

She checked the supply closet camera; no one was in there. She checked the kitchen camera but was instantly reminded from the black screen she saw before her that that camera was broken.

_Where could she be!?_

She checked the restrooms camera, and at last, she had found Chica, standing just outside the men’s bathroom, almost at the end of the little hall. She would’ve been quite difficult to spot that far from the camera, especially with the annoying static which was impossible to ignore, had it not been for that telltale bib.

“Oh, thank God,” Iona whispered to herself, wiping sweat from her forehead under her security cap. “I’ve found you.”

Satisfied now that she had found the missing chicken, she felt maybe now would be a good time to give the cameras a rest for a bit, but then remembered all the other animatronics. She took a few seconds to try and convince herself that she shouldn’t check anymore cameras for now, but her anxiety just kept screaming at her to just quickly check, so she did. Pirate Cove; the curtains were still closed. The show stage; Freddy Fazbear still stood there alone. The dining area; Bonnie remained where he was with his back to the camera. The restrooms again, Chica still stood at the opposite end of the hall from the camera.

“Right, good.”

She put the camera down and let out a huge sigh as she held her head in both hands, her elbows propped up against the desk.

_It’s okay, Iona_ , she tried to reassure herself. _You’ll get through this. It’s not as if they’re moving around_ that _much. Plus, they’re kinda just wandering around aimlessly and ending up in random rooms; it’s not as if they’re headed straight for your office. You should make it to the end of your shift. And when you do, you are going to have a good word with that manager of yours._

She still couldn’t believe it. Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie and Chica, had all charmed her and brought her so much happiness so many years ago, had seemed the most friendly and innocent creatures in the world, as if they could never even hurt a fly. Now they were stalking about the building like shadows with the possibility of killing her the minute they laid eyes on her. That was not how she wanted to die, by the hands of the very characters who were once so dear to her. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that being her end.

Like before, she spent the next hour periodically checking the same cameras over and over every five minutes, seeing only that the animatronics had remained in the same spots every time. She began to wonder, if indeed they knew she was in the building with them, if they had seen her come in just before her shift started and that maybe they were toying with her. They didn’t start moving until two and a half hours after she started work, and now, it seemed like their movements from one room to the next would only occur every hour. Well, if their movements were indeed going to be as infrequent as that, they’d have no chance of reaching her office before 6:00 am, right? Still, she wasn’t willing to let her guard down that easily.

Soon it was 4:30 am and she saw that she only had 20% power left.

“Okay,” she said. “I _really_ need to be careful with my power now.”

Though just as she said that, the time came to check the cameras again. She switched to the dining room camera and to her immense horror, Bonnie had left the room.

“Shit, where is he?” she hissed. She immediately switched to the East Hall camera but she saw nothing. Nothing but the walls lined with children’s drawings which disappeared into the pitch black void ahead. She checked the West Hall camera and squinted her eyes, trying to see if she could spot anything in the flickering light. Almost instantly, she saw it, a dark, bulky figure standing at the far end of the corridor, a couple of the party tables could be seen behind it. Its limbs were segmented in the exact same way she had seen in those of the animatronics.

_Fuck, they’re getting closer!_

She checked the bathroom camera again and gasped with fright. Chica was still there, but now she was much closer to the camera, standing almost underneath it, her eyes half-lidded and the bottom jaw of her beak lowered so that she glared up at it with what looked like a toothy smirk. Iona shuddered at the sight; and she always thought Chica was the cutest of the characters too.

She checked the show stage camera again; Freddy still stood alone in his rightful place. She checked Pirate Cove; Foxy remained ever concealed behind his curtains.

_So the figure in the hall must be Bonnie_ , she mused. _Good, that means all of the animatronics are accounted for now._

Iona put the camera monitor down again and put both hands over her eyes.

“Oh Jesus Christ, what am I doing here?” she muttered.

She really had no idea how this could’ve happened. How characters who had seemed so sweet and innocent during the day could go on a murderous rampage night after night, without anyone, especially the children, suspecting a thing? Well, whatever was going on here, she was no longer willing to stick around to find out. All she wanted to do now was see this through to the end, make a strong complain to the manager and quit her job. Maybe her parents were right. Maybe it _was_ better that she never had anything to do with Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza again. Well, it was much too late now.

She had hoped that, like the last few hours, she could’ve had another hour of peace before one of them moved again. Another hour of being as conservative with her power as she possibly could be, not having to do any more than checking the appropriate cameras every five minutes to make sure all the robots were still where she could see them. The threat of burglars and vandals breaking in was the very furthest thing from her mind at this point. They were nothing to her now, nothing compared to a bunch of rogue malfunctioning robots which would very likely dismember her once they had set eyes on her. Unfortunately, when the time read 5:00 am and the power was down to 15%, that was when she heard it, the sound which made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

_Thud… thud… thud…_

Footsteps. Slow, heavy footsteps, too heavy to have been made by human feet, coming from the west hallway. As she listened, the footsteps got louder and louder; they were coming closer. Something was out there and it was heading straight for her office.

Shooting out of her swivel chair, Iona darted towards the door to her left, almost tripping over the legs as she went, and slammed her fist on the door button. The large, iron door slammed down before her in an instant and she hoped to God that it really was strong enough to keep whatever it was that was approaching out of her office. The sound continued to get louder even after she had closed the door and she willed herself to stay put and listen. The footsteps ceased just as Iona had thought that whatever it was they belonged to was right on the other side of the door. She stood frozen, absolutely terrified out of her mind, knowing just how close one of the things was to her now. Did it know she was in here? Was it waiting for her to open the door again? Did it know she could not keep this door closed forever?

_The doors use more power than the cameras and the lights put together_ , she thought, not daring to say it out loud, fearing that the thing outside would hear her. _I shouldn’t check the cameras again. I just can’t!_

It was no use. No matter how hard she tried to argue with herself, the need to be sure where everyone was was just too strong, urgent as a scream. She walked back to her desk and picked up the camera. Bonnie was gone from the west hallway.

_Was that you that was coming down this way just now?_

She was pretty sure that it was him, but “pretty sure” wasn’t good enough. She had to be _completely_ certain. She checked the West Hall Corner camera and sure enough, Bonnie was there. He was standing right in the corner closest to the camera, half of his body was in shadow, especially his face. The one eye she could see was sending the most sinister death stare she had ever seen up at her. It was telling her, _I know you’re here. I know where you’re hiding. And you can’t hide from me forever. When that door opens, I’m coming into your office and I’m going to kill you._

“Oh, my God…” breathed Iona, unable to take her eyes off the rabbit on the screen. 

She was right, he was so close to her now. Too close for comfort. She looked at the battery percentage on the screen, she was already down to 12%. The closed door before her was using up all her energy, but she couldn’t open it, not while Bonnie was in that corner. He was just too close now. If she was to open the door now, he would only have to take a few steps towards her office before he had her in his clutches.

_Who knew bunny rabbits could be so scary?_ she joked in her mind, but she didn’t laugh. In her present situation, she was unable to find humour in anything now.

She wanted to put the camera monitor back down on her desk. She no longer cared about checking where the other animatronics were now; she knew she could just listen for them instead. However, she wanted to check if Freddy was still on the stage. She checked the Show Stage camera, he was still there, but instead of facing towards the party tables ahead of him like before, he seemed to have turned his whole body towards the camera. He too was now staring into it, as if signalling to her that he was watching her every move. Most of his face was in shadow and she could not see his bright blue eyes, only two tiny pinpoints of light in the now dark eye sockets.

_Why is he looking at me like that? And why has he still not moved from the stage yet? Is he just gonna stand there all night while Bonnie and Chica do all the dirty work for him?_

It made sense to her. Freddy was the lead singer of the band and the namesake of the restaurant. It seemed only logical to assume that maybe he was also the boss, the ringleader and that Bonnie and Chica were his henchmen. Freddy must’ve planned this whole thing out and therefore could just sit back and watch as his minions carried out his evil plot.

Deciding it was now time to put the camera down for good, she stood in the middle of her office and focused, listening very closely for any warning sounds from both doors on either side of her office. Her nerves were failing her but she wouldn’t let her will to survive do the same. She felt sweat trickling down the back of her neck but both her hands were clenched into fists. She was determined to see this through to the end. She would not go near the camera monitor again; she was wasting enough power as it was, keeping the door on her left closed to keep Bonnie out. Besides, all she needed to do now was listen for any footsteps, which may indicate that either Bonnie was leaving or another animatronic was coming.

She looked over at the fan that was still oscillating on her desk and wondered if that contributed to the draining of the power. It did give off a pleasant breeze while she sat by the desk, but it never really helped in calming her fear that she’d been feeling all night. Besides, being stuck in a stifling hot room for the rest of her shift with nothing to cool her down with sounded preferable to the risk of eventually becoming vulnerable to an army of killer robots with nothing to protect herself with. Just to be sure that it couldn’t interfere, she went over to the desk, practically tiptoeing across the room so as not to draw any attention from the thing outside and switched it off, instantly hoping that that would help slow the drainage of the power.

Having discarded the camera monitor, she was now checking the time on her watch. This last hour seemed to be passing by very, _very_ slowly. 5:10 am. 5:15 am. 5:20 am. And so on. Aside from the loud buzzing of the lightbulb which hung from the ceiling, all Iona could heard during this hour was silence. Listen as she could, she never heard any more footsteps. No more robots were heading her way, but Bonnie remained pretty much just outside her office. She just knew it. She would’ve heard him leaving otherwise.

She didn’t check the power usage on her camera monitor again, but she hoped against hope that it would hold out until the very end of her shift. Then of course, there came the other question: would the animatronics return to the stage come 6:00 am? Or was that just the time her shift would end? Would she have to wait a little longer than that until it was safe for her to leave the restaurant? The robots would _have_ to return to the stage at some point in the morning, right? How else would she see them on the stage during the day, despite being told they wandered about the establishment during the night. Would they make it back to their proper positions before opening hours? She really had no way of knowing what these robots would do when that time came, this only being her first night on the job and everything.

_First_ and _last_ , she thought, and she knew it. Whether it be being captured by these mechanical predators or surviving to 6:00 am and resigning. Either way, she knew now that she would not be working here a second night.

Eventually she looked at her watch again and her heart lifted a little when the time read 5:55 am. Great, just five more minutes and she should finally be free from this hell. However, despite it now being finally nearing the end of her shift, she still wasn’t out of the woods just yet. She still hoped that the power would last her right up until the animatronics would return to the stage.

Suddenly, and all too soon, the light in the office went out, plunging Iona into darkness and she heard the low, ominous sound of the power running out as the door to her left opened. Though loud at first, she listened with dread as the sound slowly faded until all was silent.

“No…” she muttered under her breath.

She was shaking now, her heart racing as she fought to control her breathing. She stared out through the doorway that had just opened, out into the pitch black beyond. The power had gone out so she could no longer close it. She was completely and utterly exposed. She was beyond terrified now. She couldn’t move, she could only stand where she was as she continued to stare out through the door in front of her. She was just waiting for Bonnie, or maybe Chica, to come lumbering out of the darkness and into her office any second. In her mind, she could see it now, their horrible, sunken eyes fixed on her as they closed in on her until they had her cornered with no hope of escape. She listened still for any footsteps that might be heard soon, not just from out the door in front of her, but the one behind her as well, the one that had not yet been closed. She wanted so badly to crawl under the desk and hide, but she feared that any movement she made might be heard from the terrible creatures outside. Besides, it wasn’t that big a desk, it wouldn’t take them long to find her.

She suddenly wished she had been more conservative with her power than she had been. She wished she had been braver and stronger, not so easily overcome by her constant paranoia, her ever present need to check the cameras as often as she did. She wished she had listened to Jeremy’s cryptic yet obvious warnings of the dangers of this job. But most of all… she wished she had never applied for this job in the first place.

Only a short moment passed, though to Iona, it felt like an age, ad age of feeling her heartbeat vibrating wildly in her ears and beads of sweat dripping from her forehead until finally, it happened. A face lit up in the darkness, just outside her office. It was one of the characters, at last one of them had reached her, but it wasn’t Bonnie or Chica as she had expected; it was Freddy Fazbear. She knew by the brown of his fur, his roundish ears, but most of all his icy blue eyes, which just stared straight at her through the doorway, his face flashing in the dark as the metallic sound of a music box playing an upbeat jingle filled the room.

As Iona continued to stare out at the creature before her, his own gaze unblinking, she just noticed that both her hands were cupped over her gaping mouth, her body trembled more violently, her heart was thumping so hard she thought it would burst out of her chest and she felt hot and cold at the same time. She could barely even feel the tears that were streaming down her cheeks at that moment.

This was it. They had caught her. Despite all her efforts to stay alive until the end of her shift, despite her keeping a close eyes on the animatronics as they wandered around the restaurant, hoping they would never reach her office, they had won. In her fear, she had used up all her power and now she couldn’t close the doors that would keep her safe from them. She was completely vulnerable and there was nothing she could do about it. Now they had come. Now they had her right where they wanted her. Now they were going to catch her.

Now, she was going to die.

_I’m sorry, Mom and Dad_ , she thought, suddenly finding herself thinking of her parents in that moment, how they would feel about hearing of her being found dead in this place or having been reported missing after starting her first night working here, they very place they had saved her from all those years ago. _I’m so sorry. I love you._

Suddenly, Freddy’s face appeared to have increased in size, his eyes still staring at Iona intently, before she found she could now make out the shape of the rest of his head and his whole body as well. He had stepped into the office.

“No, please,” Iona whimpered, her voice barely audible as he stepped back, hoping to put as much distance as possible between herself and the bear that continued his approach upon her, his gaze remaining unbroken. “Please. Stay back. Don’t come any closer. Please.”

Freddy did not respond to her sobbing pleas, he didn’t even seem to hear them. He just kept stepping towards her, forcing her further back still. She gasped as her back suddenly touched something solid and cold behind her. She glanced back briefly and found she was right up against the wall. She had been backed into a corner. She was trapped. She turned and looked back at the bear who was now lifting his bulky arms, reaching his large paws out towards her, his limbs like awful, swaying branches in a dark forest, light still flashing from his eyes and the music playing on.

Iona’s mind was screaming at her to run, just turn around, run out of the office, out of the restaurant and as far away from it as possible, but she was too scared to move, too terrified to even breathe. All she could do was stand and cower before the mechanical monster before her as he drew ever closer, like a cornered, frightened mouse before the cat it had failed to escape from, only able to watch as it closed in for the kill.

She wanted to close her eyes, to shield herself from the terrible reality of her impending doom so she wouldn’t have to witness it, but she couldn’t take her eyes away from the approaching animatronic. She kept gaping at it until it was only inches from her now, almost towering over her like a demon in a child’s worst nightmare. Still staring at her, Freddy’s arms slowly closed in around her until she felt something gripping her by both arms. The creature now had her within its grasp.

And she finally lost it. All the terror she had been fighting to keep under control finally broke free, like an explosion of lava blowing off a volcanic plug after millions of years of trying to push through.

“NAW, PLEASE! GET THE _FUCK AWAY FRAE ME_! LEMME GO!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, her Scottish accent returning once more as she struggled and fought to free herself from the monster’s grip. She writhed and she thrashed, trying to fight back against the thing in front of her, still screeching her head off, a final attempt to wrench herself from its clutches and escape for her life. But she wasn't strong enough, the monster still firmly held her in its tight grip. “I’M NO A FUCKIN’ ENDOSKELETON, AWRIGHT!? I’M A _HUMAN_! LET GO O’ ME! DON’T STUFF ME INTAE A SUIT! PLEASE, DON’T KILL ME! _HEEEEEELLLLLLLP!!!!!_ ”

She continued to struggle against it, continued to shriek and scream, vainly calling for help, tears flowing from her eyes like waterfalls, trying but failing to escape from the monster’s grasp.

In her panicked frenzy, Iona no longer noticed anything else Freddy might’ve been doing besides holding her in place the way he did until at last, she felt something soft and silky pressing itself against her mouth gently, silencing her. 

“Calm yourself, Iona,” spoke a low, mechanical voice, a voice that was very familiar to her, a voice she had not heard for eighteen years. “You’re in no danger.”

Her struggling ceasing altogether, Iona’s eyes snapped open. Did the thing just… speak to her? She looked up towards Freddy, noticing that his music had stopped and that his face no longer lit up. He continued to stare down at her, but now, his gaze had softened somewhat. Iona continued to stare up at the bear in disbelief for a few seconds before finally noticing only one of her arms was being restrained now. Looking down, she saw immediately saw that the thing that was pressing against her mouth was his free paw. As if now only noticing it was still there himself, Freddy lowered it.

“Wh-what… what did you say?” Iona stammered once she was able to speak again, reverting back to her standard American accent.

“I said not to worry,” Freddy Fazbear spoke again. “I’m not going to kill you. None of us are.”

He finally let go of her arm, but she did not run. She did not even try to step past him to the door. She remained where she stood, again unable to take her gaze away from the bear that stood before her. She had heard him speak her name just now, which could’ve meant one of two things. He had merely heard her name being spoken when she came into the pizzeria earlier that day, or… he had recognised her from when she was a child. 

“So then…” she began, hesitant. “You don’t think… I’m an endoskeleton?”

Freddy shook his head, his gaze not faltering. “Of course not,” he answered, his voice almost as low as a whisper. “Goodness’ sake, Iona. We see humans every day, hundreds of them. Entertaining them is our sole purpose, the only reason we were built. How on earth could we mistake just one we see at night for an endoskeleton?”

Confused, Iona glanced back towards the phone over on the desk, unsure on exactly who to believe. Freddy Fazbear, who she had known and loved since childhood and who she had just been told would try to kill her? Or the voice on the phone, the voice of a man who she had not yet met in person, who was the very one to tell her about the animatronics’ midnight antics, just after telling her she had nothing to worry about? 

Looking back up at Freddy, she pointed towards the desk, her arm still a little shaky. “B-but…” she stuttered again. “But the guy on the phone said -”

“He had it all wrong,” Freddy cut her off. “Though I suppose I can understand his mistake, what with our chosen method of killing all the other night guards and everything. But…” he paused and looked away, as if afraid to make this confession to her. “But no, we don’t do it because we think they’re endoskeletons. We knew they were humans when we stuffed them into those suits. No, I’m afraid that when we killed them…” He closed his eyes. “It was always deliberate.”

Shocked at what she had just heard, Iona put a hand back over her mouth. So it was true. Freddy Fazbear, the most beloved character from her childhood, had in fact been harbouring a dark, murderous side all along. Every night, all of them, himself, Bonnie and Chica would roam around the restaurant until they found the night guard had then murdered them in cold blood. She still couldn’t believe it, but she knew it was true. Despite them being closed, the sad, remorseful honesty she saw in the bear’s eyes when he said it was enough to convince her.

Turning back to face the young night guard, Freddy noticed the watch around Iona’s wrist, her hand still over her gaping mouth and he saw the time. 

“Well, that’s 6:00 am now,” he said. “Time for you to go home and us to go back to our stage.” He turned and proceeded walk towards the doorway he had just come in through.

It was then that Iona finally snapped out of her shock. “No, wait!” she called out to him, causing him to stop just as he had stepped back out into the hallway. “I-if…” she stuttered again, still a little afraid of him, especially after what he had just admitted to her. “If what you say is true, and you guys really _did_ kill all those other guards, then why aren’t you going to kill _me_?”

Freddy sighed and shook his head, still staring out into the darkness ahead of him. 

_Because I saved your life once. It would be wrong of me to try and take it from you now._

He turned back to face the guard again and tried his best to smile, but could only manage a small, barely noticeable one. “You came here a lot when you were a kid,” he simply answered. “Don’t you remember?”

Iona nodded. “Yes, of course,” she replied. “I remember those days very well.”

This time, it was Freddy who nodded. “We all knew you very well back then,” he explained. “You were almost like a very good friend to us. We recognised you right away when you came in for your job interview today. Well, yesterday by now. But none of the other night guards ever came here as children, as far as any of _us_ could remember.”

Iona just looked down towards the floor, suddenly feeling a mixture of emotions. She was relieved to know now that the animatronics were not going to kill her and was touched that the reason for that was due to their recognising her from when she was a child and she was very dear to them back then. But then she felt unsure about whether or not she could really believe Freddy’s word now and trust him or the others. She also didn’t quite agree that their not knowing the other guards was an entirely excusable enough reason to murder them all. If anything, it should’ve been all the more reason to get to know them before deciding whether or not they should die.

“I’m very sorry we frightened you,” said Freddy suddenly, drawing Iona out of her thoughts and causing her to look up at him again. “If you don’t wanna work here anymore after tonight, I completely understand. Quit or not, do as you wish. I won’t persuade you either way. But I’d still like to say that… it’s good to see you again, after so many years.” He tipped his hat politely to her. “Goodnight… Iona Blackburn.”

With that, he walked away from the office, disappearing into the darkness of the hallway. Iona, absolutely stunned by everything she had just witnessed and heard, could only stand in the same spot for a moment, staring into space as she listened to Freddy’s footsteps echoing down the hall towards the dining room. 

Finally finding the strength to move, she stepped towards the doorway Freddy had left through and peered out into the corridor, finding she couldn’t see a thing for it being pitch black. She removed the flashlight from her belt and switched it on, aiming it down the hallway. Remembering the corner behind her where Bonnie had been lurking before, she instantly turned and held the flashlight towards it. There was no purple rabbit standing behind her. Strange. She hadn’t heard him leave after the last time she had seen him on the cameras. Perhaps he left while Freddy was in her office and she was just too terrified to notice any footsteps from outside? She really didn’t know.

Shining her light around the office, she found her coat still hanging from her swivel chair. Picking it up, she left the office and headed down the hallway. When she entered the dining room, much darker now without the flashing lightbulb at the end of the corridor and the overhead lights above the party tables, she shone her light towards the stage. All three animatronics, Freddy, Bonnie and Chica, stood in their usual positions again, holding their respective items once more, Freddy with his microphone, Bonnie with his guitar and Chica with her cupcake. They seemed to have powered down for the night, for they all stood completely still and stared out ahead of them with those same dead, unblinking eyes that she had seen in them before. She found it strange to see them all like that again, after watching them wander about the restaurant all night. It was as though they had never moved at all.

She took a few more steps out into the open and shone her light towards Pirate Cove. The curtains remained closed, but despite the “Out of Order” sign still being there, Iona couldn’t help but wonder if Foxy really _had_ moved at some point during the night while she wasn’t watching him on the cameras. He might not have left the stage, but maybe he still had enough power in him to just fidget about behind the curtains while the others crept through the shadows?

Deciding that it really didn’t matter, Iona went ahead and walked through the dining room. As she went, she turned her flashlight back to the other three on the stage. Despite Freddy’s promise that they wouldn’t harm her, she still felt she couldn’t take her eyes off of them while she was alone in the restaurant with them, especially now that she had left the safety of her office. She watched them very closely, expecting at least one of them to move again, even if it was just a head, or even an eye, turning to face her. But nothing happened; whilst Iona kept her watchful gaze on the robots as she made her way to the exit, they all remained as still as ever, their lifeless gaze still fixed towards their invisible audience amongst the tables.

Taking the keys out of her pocket, Iona unlocked the doors, stepped out into the open air and locked the doors behind her again, all the while keeping her eyes fixed on all three animatronics until she finally walked away from the door. She switched her flashlight off, no longer needing it to see her way back home. It was just after six o’clock in the morning after all, so it was no longer night time. The sun had not yet begun to rise, but it had definitely gotten a bit lighter so the world around her was now in a kind of bluish hue; not very light, but not very dark either.

As she walked home, Iona gripped her coat in both hands, still unable to shake the stunned feeling by what she had just experienced, and only on her first night of the job. Being told by the recorded voice on the phone that the animatronics would walk around, try get into her office and stuff her into an animatronic suit, watching them at it herself through the cameras and seeing them coming closer and closer to her. Most of all, Freddy Fazbear himself entering her office, confirming that he and his friends did in fact murder all the other night guards that worked there before her but also trying to reassure her that she herself would be spared. 

Though after everything that had just happened, she still wasn’t entirely sure that she could trust him. Was he telling her the truth or was he just trying to lure her into a false sense of security, making it all the easier for them to insnare her? Although the feeling was now gone and she wasn’t exactly traumatised by it all, the events of the night proving to be somewhat anti-climactic and all, she still could not forget how terrified she was these past several hours, especially when the power ran out and Freddy showed up. She couldn’t get the image of his face flashing in the darkness and his icy blue eyes just staring straight at her as if trying to pierce her very soul out of her mind. Even after he had left her, the song he played on his music box still rang in her head. Even now, she could still hear it as she walked along the quiet, empty street to her home.

Suddenly she stopped, something about that music only now just occurring to her. _Was that the “Toreador March” from_ Carmen _?_


	5. Chapter 4: Memories of that Day

_~Freddy Fazbear’s P.O.V.~_

I wasn’t lying when I told Iona I recognised her from when she came to my pizzeria as a kid. How couldn’t I? How could I forget that cute little face with those big, bright green eyes that used to stare up at us with wonder and adoration while we performed our songs? How could I forget the way her little cheeks would flush bright red whenever I or any of the others spoke to her? It had been eighteen years since the day I had to send her away, that terrible day that seemed to have started out as a perfectly normal afternoon. She was only five years old then, but now that she was back, she was so different. She was all grown up, she had gotten so much bigger and grew much more mature than when I last saw her. She was no longer a little girl, but a woman. Still, I knew it was her the minute she stepped through the doors for the first time in so many years. I honestly would’ve recognised her face anywhere. In all the years that passed after she left, I never forgot her, not even once.

_(Flashback start)_

Her parents brought her here regularly, once a week I believe it was. It was as often as Iona could convince them to, I was sure. Knowing her, she would’ve come here every day if her parents had allowed it, if they were willing to let her skip school and eat pizza for dinner every day. They weren’t though, so they only brought her here every weekend. I remembered that very well. I remembered it all as if it were only yesterday. 

Iona loved this place very much, I was sure of that. I could always see it in those big, endearing eyes of hers. I was always alerted to her presence whenever she entered the building, as she exploded into a fit of excited squeals, rushing in through the doorway, her parents trying to keep up with her. I always smiled whenever I saw her happy little face. I think it was us, the animatronic mascots, that she loved about this place the most. Sure she loved the pizza that was served here and always eagerly took part in the competitions to win plushie versions of my friends and I. Would always dash into the arcade section where she played on all the game consoles until her turn was over or even rode on the merry-go-round for long periods of time until she’d made herself sick. Above all though, she always watched us very, very closely whenever we performed. Always from the same spot too, the end of the middle table closest to the stage. She was always so keen to get as good a view of us as possible.

I knew just about all the kids in town shared Iona’s enthusiasm for this place, but there was just something about how excited she’d get as soon as she stepped into the building that made me believe she loved this place more than anyone else did. Her parents would always try to get her to calm down whenever they arrived, but they never could. She was always just so hyperactive with joy and happiness whenever she was here, especially when sitting at the table and watching us sing. The way she would always stare up at us from her seat while we sang, until our songs finished, at which point she would only return to gobbling up her pizza. Not only that, but whenever we stepped off stage to go talk to the kids and it was her turn, she would always become very bashful and giggly. She always quickly overcame that though and spoke in that quick, excited tone when replying to whatever it was we said to her, staring up with large eyes which sparkled with admiration, much like a diehard fan when meeting their favourite celebrity. I think that was pretty much the same situation though. I think she really was our biggest fan. Of all the kids in town who came here, Iona was the one who loved coming to our pizzeria, watching us perform and speaking to us the most. I had never seen such love and devotion from any of the other children at the time, or any child since then. She was definitely the one who held the most love for us.

Especially me.

I was pretty sure I was her favourite. I mean, it was obvious that she loved the others too. She was just as eager to talk to Bonnie and Chica as she was to me and I knew she loved her occasional visits to Foxy in Pirate Cove too, but I think I was the one she loved the most. As the frontbear of the band, I was always in the middle of the stage and whenever she came in, she would always sit in the middle table, or as close to the middle as she could get. It was me she always wanted to watch. As I sang, my eyes always travelled around the dining room so I could connect with everyone in my audience, but whenever my eyes came back to her, she was always staring back up at me. Maybe she did glance back to the others from time to time when I wasn’t looking, but every day she was here, I always found myself making eye contact with her several times during a performance. Whenever I caught her watching me however, she would always turn away from me, her face bright red.

It was obvious, I was her favourite. I was the one she wanted to sit as close to as possible, the one she watched the most closely on stage, the one she drew the most pictures of, always showing them and giving them to me as gifts when they were finished. I was one she was the shyest around when I came off stage to talk to her and the other kids, the one she would open up to the most about her life and her dreams whenever she got over that shyness, the one she gave the tightest hugs to. There was no getting around it. Despite how much love, attention and friendship she was willing to give to the others, I was the one who would get the most of it from her.

I knew Bonnie and Chica noticed too. They both commented on how they believed me to be her favourite character. In fact, they even jokingly said that they thought she might’ve had a crush on me. I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. I knew they were just kidding of course, but it was entirely possible. In fact, I am almost certain that that was the reason Iona gave me as much attention and love as she did. Iona herself never admitted anything like that to me, nor did she mention any boys in her class at school that she liked, so I never brought it up with her either. Though she was much too young for me to even think about returning her feelings, I was so greatly flattered by that knowledge and it only made me adore her even more.

Besides, crush or not, it was obvious that I was her favourite character and she was my biggest fan. Despite my efforts to connect with all the children who came here equally, I couldn’t help but feel a certain closeness to this child in particular. She was the one who showed us the most love and respect, more than any of the other children did, the one who spoke to us the most, the one who was the most excited about being here, the one who was the most reluctant to leave whenever her parents said it was time to go home. She was the one who was at her happiest when she was in my pizzeria. To us, she was more than just another child who watched us or just another fan who adored us. In a way, she was pretty much a close friend to us.

Then _that_ day came. The day when I would have to send her away. The day I would see her for the last time for eighteen years.

It was just a regular Saturday afternoon. My friends and I were singing on the stage and all the children were cheering us on and singing along as usual. Of course Iona was there too, as she always was. After we had finished our performance and everyone had finished their pizza, the children had all dispersed, either to go to the arcade or the prize corner. Except Iona, who had went into another corner with five other children, the corner with the red plastic table and chairs, that had sheets of paper and crayons, pencils and pens of different colours. I smiled to myself when I saw her go over there. I knew then that I’d probably be getting another adorable drawing from her soon.

Then that was when _he_ came in.

He worked here back then, but I hardly ever saw him come in. Whenever I did though, I would always be filled with anger. I never showed it however, because I didn’t wanna make a scene and upset the kids. I was absolutely furious the first day he came in to work here, because I knew him. I knew him from another time before and I knew that he was not at all fit to work in a place like this, because of what I had seen him do before. Of course, I couldn’t blame the manager for hiring him, because he didn’t know what this man had done in the past, what he was capable of. I wanted so badly to go tell him, but I was just an animatronic built for this restaurant, whose sole purpose was to entertain the guests. There was absolutely no way he would’ve believed me. He wouldn’t have believed that I had known this man, when and where I knew him from or what I had seen him do before. He would’ve just assumed I was experiencing a severe glitch in my programming that was making me say crazy thing and then he would try to get me fixed or replaced, which would possibly put the children in even more danger without me there to watch them. So to ensure that the children were safe and happy, I reluctantly kept this information to myself and continued to keep a keen eye on this man, who I watched with contempt every time he had the nerve to step into this building. The only problem was, I doubt that he ever knew I was watching him. How could he? After all, he was that reason that… How could he have known that I…?

Anyway, I was already on edge at that point, watching this man and any suspicious move he might’ve made like a hawk as I always did whenever he came in, making sure I was ready to act the second I sensed something terrible was going to happen. When he came in, the first thing I saw him do was go towards the manager’s office, then he came back into the dining room a couple of minutes later and… went into the kitchen? He didn’t just walk in casually either. There was something about his movements that seemed stealthy, secretive. Like he was keen not to let anybody see him go in, like he was sneaking in.

 _What is that man up to?_ I asked myself as I continued to watch the double doors to the kitchen, waiting for him to reemerge, dreading what he would do once he came out. He was a cleaner here after all, not a cook or a waiter. He had no business being in there.

Barely a minute passed before the doors opened and he came back out, carrying a large birthday cake covered in white frosting. What was he doing with that? It wasn’t anyone’s birthday here, at least not as far as I knew. I continued to watch him very closely, and again his movements as he carried the cake across the dining room were quiet and careful, cautious not to draw any attention to himself, not even from any of the children. I saw him take it over to the door on the other side of the room, the door to the storage room, the room near where Iona and the other five children were playing. He didn’t stop for an instant, not even as he opened the door, but I did see him turn to face the group and kept his gaze fixed upon them right up until he went into the room and closed the door behind him. 

I felt as if a chill ran through me; I knew then without a doubt that he was planning something terrible. Though before I could come off stage and go over to get the children away from there, my programming told me that it was time to start another song. So I had no choice but to just go along with it and perform as if everything was normal. Though as I sang, I still kept one eye on the door to the storage room, swearing to myself that if anything happened then, even right in the middle of my song, I would immediately cease my performance and rush over to them.

It wasn’t until after the song was over and my friends and I came off stage to talk to the other children around the main dining area, during which I still kept an eye on that door that something did finally happen. The door opened and a yellow rabbit stepped out of the room, carrying the exact same cake I had seen that man steal from the kitchen. I knew instantly that _he_ was the one wearing the costume which I had last seen in the previous restaurant, the place where I first met him, when he came out. Even though I was a few feet away from him, I could still see the dark, empty eyes through the sockets in the mask, their blank gaze instantly turning towards the group of children in the corner.

“Hey, kids!” he called to them in a goofy, cheerful voice that would’ve fooled anyone into thinking he was friendly, that he was trustworthy. Except me, of course.

In unison, the kids all looked up.

“It’s me!” the rabbit announced again in the same voice. “Your ol’ pal, Bonnie!”

Upon seeing the rabbit carrying the large cake, the kids instantly cheered and began running up to him excitedly like a flock of sheep obediently rounding up to their shepherd. I was confused as to why they just accepted this character as being Bonnie without even questioning or commenting on it. Not only was he the wrong colour to be my rabbit friend, but Bonnie himself was right next to me, chatting away to a family with three children. Yet, not one of them seemed to care a bit. All their young minds allowed them to be concerned with was the fact that this character had just shown up out of nowhere and that he was carrying a huge and rather scrumptious looking cake.

“Follow me,” he said, turning towards the direction of the door he had just come through. “I’ve got a really neat surprise for each and every one of you little rascals!”

The kids cheered again as they followed the impostor Bonnie into the storage room. That was when I saw it. Through the empty sockets of the mask, I saw, in the human eyes inside, the same foul, dangerous look I had seen in them before. Not only that, but through the mouth, through those blunt, velvety teeth, I saw his lips parting to reveal the same sick, sadistic grin he wore that day also. My suspicions were instantly confirmed at that moment. He really _had_ been planning something, and now, in this very restaurant, this place that was supposed to be a safe haven for children, he was carrying out whatever evil deed he had been scheming. It was at that moment that I was sure, more than anything, that these children were now in the gravest danger and that they were so blissfully unaware of it.

As the rabbit turned and went back into the storage room, the kids still trailing behind him, I instantly saw _she_ was part of the group too. Little Iona Blackburn. My biggest fan, my greatest admirer, my little buddy, was also being lured away by this monster, was also about to be at the complete mercy of this demon who was intending to harm her once he had her securely locked behind that door with him.

I knew then that I simply _had_ to do something. Forget obeying my programming and just continuing to entertain all the other children. These kids were in serious trouble and I was the only one who knew anything about it, the only one who knew the true nature of the man they were following, therefore the task lay upon my shoulders to save them. It was bad enough that he was here, that he was about to cause these children great harm, but the fact that he had chosen Iona as one of his victims too? This little girl who loved and adored me with all her being, who looked up to me the most and valued me as much as she would her best friend? I couldn’t just stand by and watch her fall victim to that man’s cruel and sadistic lust for blood! I would be letting her down in the worst way imaginable, betraying her utterly, and for that, I would never be able to forgive myself.

“Hey, Bonnie,” I said to my purple friend, instantly catching his attention. “Can you and Chica just continue to keep these kids occupied? I gotta go deal with something real quick.”

“Sure thing, Freddy,” my friend answered and turned back to the family he had been speaking to.

Grateful that my rabbit friend didn’t try to question me about what was going on, I immediately followed the group of children, sneaking as quietly as I could so as not to draw any unwanted attention to myself, particularly not from the man in the rabbit suit within. Iona was the last child to enter that room and I was very glad that I could reach her before the door could close behind her. I glanced into the room, the yellow rabbit appeared to be too busy trying to find a spot to place the cake in amongst all the spare animatronic parts on the shelves and the table. Without thinking more about it, I seized my chance and lowered myself down until I was at level height with Iona. Reaching over, I gently tapped her on the shoulder and she turned round, her big green eyes widening slightly in surprise.

“Sshh,” I whispered, placing a finger over my mouth before she could say anything. “Come on,” I whispered again, waving towards myself as a gesture for her to follow me.

“But -“ she breathed, pointing to the rabbit in the room.

“No buts,” I replied in the same hushed voice, reaching over and taking her little hand into my much larger paw. “Just please come with me.”

Before she could say any more, I gently pulled at her, leading her back out into the main dining area. Feeling her pulling back a little, I looked down and saw her still staring towards the door behind her as I led her away from it. Not only that, but I could feel her trying to stop or pull her hand out of mine. She was trying to get back to the storage room. The poor thing obviously didn’t want to miss out on the surprise that had been promised to her and the other children and had no idea what kind of danger she would’ve been in if I’d allowed her to go back in there. Not wishing to waste any more time, I just lifted her up in my arms and carried her further away from the door, anxiously looking behind us as I saw it finally closing, hoping against hope that once I had taken Iona back to safety, I would have time to save the other five too.

“Freddy?” asked Iona. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t tell you, Iona,” I simply answered, not looking at her, but instead now scanning the customers around the main dining area. “I’m gonna take you back to your parents now, all right?”

“But why?” she asked again.

“Like I said, I can’t tell you,” I answered again, ignoring the weird looks some of the customers were giving me at seeing me carrying this child around the restaurant as I continued to look for her parents. “Now, please shush, sweetie.”

The girl thankfully did as she was told, refraining from asking any more questions. Though I could still sense that she was utterly confused by what was happening and I felt awful for abruptly taking her away from what she believed to be an exciting spectacle. But time was running out fast and I had to get this girl safely back to her family before I could alert the other animatronics to the situation so we could all save the rest of the children together. I just hoped I wouldn’t be too late.

“Look, Mum!” I heard another little girl shout from one corner of the dining room. “There she is!”

I turned to the direction the voice came from and finally spotted Iona’s family. Both of her parents were standing together as they turned to face me. In front of them stood her older sister, pointing straight towards us.

“Iona!” her dad called out to her and I immediately brought her over to her family, putting her down onto the ground and nudging her gently to make her go over to them. She obeyed me thankfully and ran up to her family as her mom knelt down to her level, placed both hands on her shoulders and stared down at her sternly.

“You naughty girl!” she scolded her daughter. “Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick!”

“Please don’t be mad at her, Mrs. Blackburn,” I pleaded her mother. “It wasn’t her fault. She was lured away.”

Her mother broke her gaze from her and stared up at me, confused.

“What?” her dad asked, obviously confused at seeing one of the restaurant’s mascots behaving in a way that was beyond pre-programmed interaction. “What are you talking about?”

“I…” I trailed off then instantly shook my head. “I can’t explain right now.”

Taking a few steps closer to the family, I kept my gaze locked with both Iona’s parents’ as her mother picked up her daughter and held her tightly to her.

“Listen,” I told them urgently, my voice lowered. “I really need you to take Iona home. _Right now_!”

The confusion in her parents’ eyes began to merge with fear as they continued to just stare at me. “Why?” her mother asked.

“I really can’t say too much,” I explained regrettably. “But there’s someone in the building right now. Someone Iona is not safe around. I don’t have time to explain any further, but please, just take Iona back home quickly! He’s got five other kids with him now and I don’t know how much time I have left to go help them. Please, just take her home! She’ll be safe there, I know she will. _Please_!”

Her parents just glanced between each other and Iona herself looked at me with sad, confused eyes. She obviously didn’t want to leave just yet, especially since she didn’t know what was happening. Also, I think she might’ve been a little upset to see me so anxious, since she had only ever seen me when I was happy and friendly.

“I have no idea exactly what is going on with this place right now,” her father finally said, his tone hard and stern. “And I’m really not sure if I can believe what I’m being told by a mere robot, if you really are speaking the truth or are just malfunctioning out of control. But if taking Iona home is the best thing for her right now, then of course we’ll do it.” Turning to his wife, he then said. “Come on, Kate. Let’s go.”

“But, Colin,” said his wife. “Shouldn’t we find the manager first?”

Colin shook his head. “Naw, we can call them when we get home,” he answered. “Let’s just get the girls out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Well… all right,” Kate answered hesitantly. “Come on, girls, let’s go home.”

“But, Mummy,” whimpered Iona. “I wanna stay here.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Kate told her soothingly. “We can always come back here another time and we can stay stay extra longer then, I promise. But Freddy Fazbear says it’s time for you to go home now.”

With that, the family walked around me and began to quickly make their way towards the exit. 

“No!” sobbed Iona, who was still being carried by her mother. “I don’t wanna go!” She quickly turned to face me once more, her eyes now streaming with tears. She reached both arms out towards me, calling out my name as she was finally taken out through the double glass doors. “Freddy! _Freddy_!!!”

“I’m so sorry, Iona,” I muttered quietly, my heart breaking at the sound of her cries which I could still hear even after they had all disappeared out of site after the doors closed behind them. I hated to see her so upset, I really did. The poor girl had no idea what was happening, could not comprehend the irreversible tragedy I had just narrowly managed to save her from, but the urgency in my voice must’ve made her think she wouldn’t be allowed to come here ever again, that she would never see me again. The notion caused an overwhelming sense of sympathy to build up in my chest and I suddenly felt as if I wanted to cry myself. I really couldn’t have told her what was about to happen to her, as young as she was, and I would really loved to have allowed her to stay for as long as she wanted, but I just couldn’t bring myself to, not while _he_ was still in the building. Especially not with the terrible, terrible crime he was about to commit and how I was just in the nick of time to prevent Iona from being one of his victims.

As the girl’s cries soon faded and I knew she and her family had gone, I felt a brief feeling of relief wash over me. My little fan, my favourite regular was finally safe and out of harm’s way, but I still had those five other kids to worry about.

“Freddy?”

I turned to face the voice I had just heard behind me and found myself face to face with Bonnie and Chica, both of whom looked at me with confusion and concern in their eyes. They must’ve seen what had happened just now.

“Freddy,” Bonnie spoke again. “What the heck’s going on?”

Not answering my friend right away, I looked around the dining room and saw that all the other families must’ve witnessed that awful scene too. Some were just staring at me with the same fearful and confused expressions, some parents even held their children close to them and some were now trying to coax their kids out of the building, like Iona’s parents had just done. There was no way they could’ve known any more than I told the Blackburns, but they too must’ve suspected that something was horribly wrong.

I shook my head and turned back to my friends. “Come on!” I said, waving my paw in the direction of the storage room, not wanting to waste another second. “Some kids are in danger! We gotta help them!”

Without waiting for a reply from either of them, I immediately began to run back towards the storage room. I could hear Bonnie and Chica following closely behind and just as I was about to open the door, Foxy emerged from Pirate Cove, having must’ve heard all the commotion himself, and began to approach me.

“What be all the ruckus, Freddy?” he questioned in his usual piratical accent.

“No time to explain, Foxy,” I just answered, not looking at him as I pushed open the door and walked inside. To my immense horror, I saw that the room was empty, save for the usual table and shelves filled with spare animatronic parts. Only now, some of the extra costumes were missing. There was no sign of any of the children, the man who had lured them back here or the old rabbit suit he wore. Only the large birthday cake remained placed on the table beside the bare endoskeleton and the floor was pooled with blood, some of it trailing towards the door at the back of the room.

I heard Chica gasp behind me. “Oh, no!” she wailed. “What happened here?”

Still not answering, I followed the trail of blood up to the door, rapidly filling up with anger and disgust at that point, and tried the handle. It was locked. Frustration and denial now bleeding into my mind, I desperately pulled repeatedly at the handle, still trying to open it in hopes that I might still reach whatever horrible scene the crimson trail would lead to, hoping there might still be a chance to save those poor kids. But the door would not open, only shudder slightly with my pulling at the handle.

“Dammit!” I cursed, slamming my fist against the metal panel. “That bastard!”

“Freddy, what has happened?” Chica asked again.

“We’re too late,” I growled in reply. “That son of a bitch killed them!”

“Who?” asked Bonnie in a mortified tone.

I turned back to my friends who were all now looking at me expectantly, their eyes filled with shock and horror. There was a pause before I could bring myself to answer, spitting the name out like it was poison: “ _Afton_!”

_(Flashback end)_

I never saw Iona again after that. Frankly, I can’t say I was ever surprised. Her parents did promise her that they’d bring her back to the pizzeria before they had to take her away, but I guess after the news of those kids’ disappearances got out, they thought better of it. I was even willing to bet that her family decided to move out of town too. A wise decision on her parents’ part. They really loved their two little girls with all their hearts, just as good parents should. I wouldn’t have blamed them for going to those lengths to make sure that their daughters were safe. Heck, I would even have applauded them for it, even if it did mean that poor little Iona would never see this place again. The thought saddened me greatly. Not just because it meant I’d never be able to give that cute little tyke a hug again, but mostly because of how I knew that would make her feel. She loved this place dearly. Being here, watching us perform and talking to us was when she was at her happiest after all. Now she could no longer be allowed to return to her happy place, and without even knowing why. The very idea must’ve been torture for her.

But I couldn’t let that knowledge make me selfishly wish her back. I didn’t want to send her away so soon, but I had to. I had to because I wanted her to be safe. Really, that was what I wished for her most. To be safe, to be healthy and to be happy. All those years after she left, I did miss her greatly and I always thought about her from time to time. I always wondered where she was or what she was doing with her life. Where it was she now lived, how many friends she made at school, what kind of grades she’d gotten, what kind of career she was hoping to pursue, whether or not she was dating someone. Of course, none of that ever really mattered to me. I just hoped that wherever she was and whatever she was doing, she was safe and she was happy.

Eighteen years later, now that she’d returned, I was indeed very glad to see just how much she’d grown, how healthy she was and how strong she had become. True that over the years since that awful day, my friends and I had been roaming the halls of this restaurant at night until we’d caught the night guards and killed the majority of them by stuffing them into suits. But honestly, Iona’s becoming a night guard herself made absolutely no difference to just how important her safety and wellbeing was to me. She was so much more than just another night guard after all, so much more than just the uniform she now wore. She was Iona Blackburn, the little girl who came here so often, who listened and sang along to all our songs with the most enthusiasm. She was the child who flattered us the most and the one who was our closest friend. But above all, she was the one child whose life I saved that day.

That was exactly why, unlike the other night guards, I would not kill her. I would not even so much as touch a single hair on her head. I told the others they were not to harm her either, just before she started her first shift, but really, they didn’t need to be told. We all recognised her the minute she stepped in through the doors for the first time in eighteen years. We all knew her very well, we all knew just how much she loved this place, how much she loved _us_. How could we ruin such precious childhood memories for her by capturing and killing her, just like we did those other security guards? She was our friend and we would not betray her, we would not harm her.

I couldn’t blame her for not quite trusting us again after that night, but still, no matter what she thought or how she felt about us now, I would still see to it that she stayed alive for as long as possible, especially since I had failed to save the other five children that day. That only made me all the more determined to keep her safe any way I could. She may have been the one that had been hired to guard _us_ , but that didn’t change the fact that I would do everything in my power to protect her. 

For as long as I was in working order, no harm would ever come to Iona Blackburn. This I swore.


	6. Chapter 5: Welcome Back

The events of the previous night had been plaguing Iona’s thoughts all day since she got home. Being told by the voice on the phone that the beloved characters from her childhood would try to kill her. Seeing them walk around the restaurant for herself on the security cameras. Freddy Fazbear himself confirming he had indeed killed the other night guards whilst, in the same breath, telling her that she herself would not be harmed. The whole ordeal was really messing her up in the head. Try as she might, she just couldn’t get it out of her thoughts, she was just so shaken and confused. Her whole world had been turned upside down and it made her feel really dizzy and sick. Or maybe that was due to the adrenaline that had been rushing through her all night, that had worn off and left her feeling absolutely drained. Upon returning home, she was so tired that she slowly trudged through her hall, carelessly dropping her coat to the floor as she went, and slunk into her room. Still wearing her security uniform, she dropped with a moan onto her bed and instantly fell into a deep sleep.

The nightmare she had then was unlike anything she had ever dreamt before. It was so vivid and so realistic, which only made it ten times worse. She was a little girl again, standing in the middle of her bedroom in her old home. It was nighttime, all the lights in the house were out and the rest of her family were asleep in the next rooms. She was the only one who was awake. It was so dark, the only source of light was from the flashlight she clutched to her chest with trembling hands. She was frozen, beads of sweat ran down her forehead, her chest hurt from the breath she had been holding in for so long. She dared not move, dared not make a sound as she listened, listened to the unbearable silence that was roaring in her ears, making them hot with her anxiety. The only thing that broke said silence was the chiming from the grandfather clock downstairs, but she didn’t listen to it, didn’t count the tolls that would tell her what time it was; her mind was focused only on one thing.

They were coming for her. She didn’t know exactly who they were, where they came from, how that had found their way to her home or what they wanted from her. All she knew was that they were coming. And they were coming for _her_.

For what seemed like hours, she flicked her light around the room. Over her bed, where the stuffed brown bear with the black top hat and bow tie sat propped up against the pillows. Across the floor, where the rest of her toys lay scattered. Over her closet, the door open just a crack. Both doors on either side of her room. She was searching, she didn’t know what for exactly, but she was searching. Whenever she found the guts to, she would finally move from her standard spot, running over to one of the doors and shining her light into the hallway outside, barely illuminating the darkness in front of her. Other times, she would rush over to the closet and shone her light in there also or she would dart back to her bed and point her flashlight towards the plush bear. Not once did she ever spot any unwelcome visitors.

At first, nothing ever seemed quite out of the ordinary. She saw nothing and she heard nothing. But after a while, she began to hear heavy footsteps, coming up the stairs and down the hallways, coming towards her room. She didn’t want to go over to the door, she only wanted to dive under her bed and hide until whatever it was that was heading her way would leave, but she knew that it never would. Not until it found her anyway The only thing that could ward it off was the beam from her flashlight. Plucking up as much courage as she could, she ran back over to the door, listened for a few seconds, pointed her light and flicked the switch. It was one of _them_! But she only saw it for a split second, looking at her from way at the other end of the hall before it quickly slipped around the corner, out of sight.

Then, she heard it. It was faint, but she definitely heard it. A kind of light but ear-piercing squealing coming from behind her on the bed. Sprinting back from the door, she aimed her light towards the bed and gasped. Two or three of them, demonic, mechanical toy bears perched on the bed, writhing violently and grinning maniacally at her. Though as soon as her light was on them, they seemed to quickly roll away off the bed, one by one, until only her usual bear remained.

She heard more footsteps, coming from outside the other door. She ran over to it and listened. Heavy breathing. Not only did she hear it, but she felt it too, warm and putrid, hitting her face. Grabbing the knob, she yanked the door shut and held it firmly, waiting for whatever that was to leave. Eventually it did, the footsteps beginning again and becoming quieter, the creature, whatever it was, retreating back down the hallway and down the stairs.

_Creeeeaaaakkkk…_

_What was that?_ She turned to look behind her, just in time to see the door to her closet moving. It seemed that just when she thought she was safe and alone again, a new threat would instantly make itself known, reminding her that no matter where she looked or ran, she was never alone. She was surrounded. Running up to her closet, she hesitated. She fought to control her breathing, the flashlight slowly beginning to slip out of her now sweaty hand. She didn’t know who or what was in there and she didn’t _want_ to know. But she had to see, she had to know whether or not something really _was_ in there, whether or not she really _was_ safe. Though her arm was shaking violently, she aimed her torch up towards the closet doors and flicked the switch. A red, dishevelled snout instantly lunged out at her, bearing razor sharp, glinting metal teeth as it snarled ferociously.

She awoke with a jolt, heart racing and chest heaving with hyperventilation. She was delirious with fatigue and the fear that remained even after she had awoken from that nightmare. She looked around and reality gradually began to bleed back into her mind. She was an adult, she was in her own apartment, it was morning and there was nothing stalking her out in the halls or lurking in her closet. Looking down at herself, she saw she was still in her uniform. The shirt, which had only been clean and crisp the previous night when she first put it on, was now wrinkled with use and glued to her skin with the drying sweat, which was also staining her under the arms.

She cringed, not only because of the state her new uniform was now in or the faint odour of sweat it was giving off, but because of the grim reminder it had given her. She was relieved to know that the monsters trying to get into her bedroom were just a dream, but her heart sank the second she remembered that the robots waiting for her in the restaurant she now worked at were all too real. She still couldn’t understand how such a thing could be possible; how seemingly kid-friendly animatronics could turn rogue at night, especially if said animatronics were part of her childhood. The fond memories she once had of that place might’ve been irreversibly ruined had it not been for the namesake mascot himself promising that he would not harm her, despite everything she had just been told a few hours prior.

She had experienced so much and in such a short span of time. It was all too much, it was making her head swim and all she wanted to do was drop back down onto her bed and drift off again, but the memory of her dream and the instant fear of it recurring immediately repelled her from the idea. She forced herself off the bed and staggered into the bathroom, where she washed and changed into more comfortable clothing before putting her uniform into the washing machine.

She never did call the pizzeria, like she promised herself she would. She never spoke to Lenny, she never complained about the poor safety conditions he had failed to mention to her about her new job, she never went through with resigning that job. Her desire to find out exactly what was going on at Freddy’s had returned and it was just too great this time. It wasn’t down to just mere curiosity anymore. It wasn’t that she wanted to know what was going on, she _needed_ to know! She needed to know what had happened there eighteen years ago, she needed to know what the deal was with the animatronic mascots roaming around and killing security guards during the night. A place that had been her favourite as a child, a place that had seemed so safe, happy and innocent to her at the time she only now knew had a darker side and harboured some sinister secrets, and she needed to know what those secrets were. She needed to know how such a place she believed to be so pure could have become so tainted. And to do that, she had to hang around. She had to keep working there, at least a little while longer.

And now here she was, walking up to the pizzeria again to start her second night at work, her coat in one hand and a wooden baseball bat gripped firmly in the other. She knew that coming back here was very probably suicide, she still wasn’t quite sure she could trust Freddy Fazbear when he told her that, despite what he and the others had done to the other night guards in the past, she herself was still safe there. Even though she had had her mind set on quitting the night before, she was just way too confused about everything she had seen and heard yesterday. The entire pizzeria was wrapped up in mystery and she needed to solve it. She needed to understand what had happened here, what was _still_ happening. She needed to understand this place.

Her eyes fixed dead on the double glass doors as she approached, Iona removed the keys from her pocket, unlocked said doors and quickly slipped inside. She turned to face the animatronics on the stage, barely seeing them in the glow of the lights above the tables. They stood frozen in the exact same positions she saw them in when she left that morning. Sweat rolled down her face and her heart trembled in her chest as she somehow managed to lock the doors again with shaking hands, refusing to take her eyes off the mascots for a second. Her fear of being alone in a locked building in the middle of the night with these things was coming back to her, but something had convinced her to just push that fear to the bottom of her chest and get straight to work.

She kept her gazed fixed on the three robots as she walked backwards across the dining room, her hand trailing against the wall to guide her on her way. She remembered she’d be nearing Pirate Cove, so she took out her flashlight. Finally reaching the doorway into the little party room, she flicked on her torch and zapped the beam of light towards the stage. The curtains were still closed and the “Out of Order” sign still stood at the front. Remembering the main three, she darted her eyes back towards them again and was relieved to see that none of them had moved… yet. Inching back a few steps more, she finally reached the back of the room, where she turned and ran down the corridor towards her office, ignoring the flickering of the lightbulb above her.

She switched her flashlight back off the minute she stepped into the lit room, throwing the bat under the desk and flopping her coat over the back of the swivel chair. She turned her attention to the door she had just come in through, considering closing them both to keep herself save, but instantly remembered the importance of conserving as much power as possible during her shift.

 _Oh, for God’s sake_ , she huffed in her mind. _Why the hell would doors need power to be kept closed anyway? Wouldn’t it make more sense if they used power to stay open? The overall design of this place is fucked up._

Reluctantly deciding to leave the doors open for now, she sat down in her chair and picked up the camera monitor. The phone began to ring at that moment.

She groaned. “Oh, you again…” she grumbled. “So what kind of friendly advice are you gonna give me tonight?”

At that moment, the ringing clicked off and the recorded voice (who Iona had secretly decided to give the nickname of “Phone Guy” since he didn’t think to introduce himself before) began to speak to her again.

“ _Uh, hello, hello?_ ” called Phone Guy in that same annoying tone. “ _Uh, well if you’re hearing this and you made it to day two, uh, congrats!_ ”

“Psh, gee thanks, buddy!” scoffed Iona sarcastically. “First night was a piece of cake, really!”

“ _Uh, I won’t talk quite as long this time since Freddy and his friends tend to become more active as the week progresses_ ,” Phone Guy informed her.

“Oh my God, are you serious?” whined Iona, putting her hand to her forehead in despair. If last night was when they were at their least active and she couldn't even handle that, how the heck was she supposed to deal with the rest of the week when they became more active each night? Maybe coming back here really was a bad idea after all.

“ _Uh… it might be a good idea to peek at those cameras while I talk_ ,” suggested Phone Guy. “ _Just to make sure everyone’s in their proper place, you know._ ”

Iona let out a deep sigh. “Well, all right,” she replied with a shrug. “But I don’t know what good it’ll do.”

She switched on the camera monitor and was instantly on the Show Stage camera.

“What!?” she cried out. “Already!? Seriously!?”

The clock only read 12:01 am and already Bonnie had disappeared from his usual spot on the stage. Only Freddy and Chica remained.

“ _Uh, interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn’t come off stage very often_ ,” continued Phone Guy as Iona frantically began flicking through the cameras in search of the missing rabbit, which annoyed her greatly because she was _not_ in a position to be taking part in any small talk right now. Nor was she in the mood for it. “ _I heard he becomes a lot more active in the dark though, so hey! I guess that’s one more reason not to run out of power, right?_ ” Phone Guy added.

“Ha! I could’ve told you that, buddy!” Iona just about shouted, still panicking as she searched the cameras for Bonnie, rapidly tapping each square after another. She shuddered inwardly at the memory of Freddy Fazbear appearing at her office after the power ran out the night before, his piercing blue eyes staring straight at her as they flashed in the darkness, the sharp, metallic notes of his music box ringing throughout the room. Despite the encounter having actually amounted to nothing, it was still a sight she was sure was going to haunt her nightmares for years to come.

She finally found Bonnie, standing in amongst the tables on the dining floor. Unlike last time she saw him there, he stood further away from the camera and was actually facing towards the stage. Being able to see him fully this time instead of just a dark shadow, she shivered at the sight of his bottom jaw lowered in what looked like a wicked smirk.

“Oh God, what happened to you guys?” she lamented. “You’re not the same Freddy, Bonnie and Chica I remember…”

But Phone Guy had more to say. “ _Uh, I also want to emphasise the importance of using your door lights_ ,” he said.

“Door lights?” Iona looked up from her screen and glanced between the two doors on either side of her office, quickly noticing the buttons for the lights.

“ _There are blind spots in your camera views_ ,” explained Phone Guy. “ _And those blind spots happen to be right outside your doors._ ”

“Well, shit.” That was all Iona needed, blind spots, places where she couldn’t see them on her cameras. And right outside her doors too? This should be fun. _NOT!!!_

“ _So if… if you can’t find something… or someone, on your cameras, be sure to check the door lights_ ,” instructed Phone Guy. “ _Uh, you might only have a few seconds to react._ ”

A few seconds to react? So should Iona see one just lurking outside her office after switching on one of the door lights, they were willing to give her as much as a few seconds to close the doors before they’d munch her face off? Gosh, how _generous_ of them.

“ _…Uh, not that you’d be in any danger, of course_ ,” stated Phone Guy after a bit of an awkward pause. “ _I’m not implying that._ ”

“Aww, quit lyin’ awready!” snapped Iona, her Scottish accent returning as she still clutched her monitor in her shaking hands. “I’m no a fuckin’ eejit! I know fine well these fuckers are gonnae try an’ kill me! Jesus Christ!”

She shook her head as she went back to look at the cameras. To her relief, Freddy and Chica still stood on the stage and Bonnie stayed where he was in the dining area.

“Right, good,” she muttered, back in her American accent.

“ _Also_ ,” Phone Guy went on. “ _Check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time._ ”

Iona’s head immediately snapped up at the mention of Pirate Cove. “Whit!?” she shouted, in her Scottish accent again. 

“ _The character in there seems unique in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time_ ,” said Phone Guy. “ _I-I guess he doesn’t like being watched. I don’t know…_ ”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!” she shouted, back in her American accent. “You mean he still works!?”

She looked at her monitor again and switched to Pirate Cove. The curtains were still closed and the “Out of Order” sign was still there.

_But Foxy becomes active too? Even though he technically should be out of order?_

Not only that, but Phone Guy mentioned him being “unique”. Sure he just meant that he’d become more active if Iona looked away for long enough, but God only knew what would happen once he did become active. Surely he wouldn’t just stand and stare into the camera for ages like the others did. Iona felt her whole body seizing up, fearing she’d see him do something even more terrifying, like sprinting down the corridor straight for her office or something. Would he give her time to close the doors before getting into her office or would he just dive in before she’d have the chance to get out of her seat?

_Oh God, this is not good._

“ _Anyway_ ,” Phone Guy went on. “ _I’m sure you have everything under control. Uh, talk to you soon!_ ” And the phone clicked off.

“Yeah, bye!” Iona snapped in reply. “Thanks for leaving me alone with these killer robots who are clearly after me after giving me some useless advice which very likely isn’t gonna save me! Prick!”

She picked up the monitor and checked the dining room camera again; Bonnie was still standing amongst the tables. She checked the show stage camera; Freddy and Chica were still where they should’ve been. She checked Pirate Cove; the curtains remained closed.

She put down the monitor and sighed, taking a moment to think about what she was to do next. The animatronics would be more active tonight than they were the previous night. She had somehow managed to run out of power then. Now she had one more character to worry about, the one she was so sure wouldn’t be a problem since he was apparently broken. She had come very close to being captured towards the end of her first shift too. Although, Freddy technically had willingly let her go, saying it was because he recognised her from her childhood, so…

She shook her head. She couldn't allow herself to be taken in so easily. It was probably a trap, a trick to lure her into a false sense of security so they could strike when she least expected it. She knew what she had to do. She had to be more careful with her camera usage, checking only on Pirate Cove frequently and occasionally looking for the others. She knew now that if one was getting too close, she’d be able to hear it, then she could close the doors and wait it out until they left. If they did. Her strategy was flawed and she knew it, but it was the best one she could come up with. This was her basic plan: Check Pirate Cove every five minutes. Check on the others every half hour. But be prepared to quickly change routine should the unexpected happen… whatever that was.

_Why did I come back here?_

When she learned of the characters’ increased activity and the fact that Foxy wasn't quite so “out of order” after all, she was absolutely terrified, but thinking through it all and forming a basic strategy in her head somehow made her feel calmer, even if just a little.

She checked her watch. 12:10 am. She picked up the camera again and checked Pirate Cove. Still out of order, for now. She put the monitor down and pressed her fingers to her temples, rubbing circles into them.

“You are fine, Iona,” she whispered to herself. “You will get through this. This is only the second night. They probably won’t be that much more active tonight.”

Letting out another big sigh, she dropped her hands onto her desk, fighting to remain calm despite still trembling all over and began to listen out for any approaching footsteps.

_~*Twenty minutes later*~_

Iona had been checking Pirate Cove every five minutes like she had promised herself. Looking at the time and the battery usage on the monitor, it was now 12:30 am and she was down to 85% power. She hoped that meant she was doing better at conserving energy than she was the previous night. But now it was time to check on the three main mascots. She checked the show stage camera and saw that Freddy and Chica remained in their usual positions. She then checked the dining area camera to see if Bonnie was still there. She gasped when she saw that he had gone.

“Oh my God, where is he?” she asked in a panicky tone as she switched to the west hall camera. She saw a bulky, segmented silhouette in the flickering light and assumed that that was him. “Okay, he’s already getting closer. That’s not good.”

She wasn’t sure what would happen or what she would do if he reached her office before she was even halfway through her shift. What if he refused to leave, forcing her to keep the door closed until the power ran out again? What if it did much earlier than it did last night, before she was anywhere near 5 am, never mind 6 am?

She sighed and put a hand to her forehead. _Coming back here was a mistake._

She remembered the baseball bat she had brought in with her, laying at her feet under the desk, though she wasn’t sure if that would be enough to defend herself against them should the time come when she could no longer barricade herself in the office.

Another half hour passed of her just checking Pirate Cove regularly; it was 1 am before she dared check on the others again. She checked the show stage and her heart sank when she saw that Chica was now missing from her usual spot, leaving Freddy alone on the stage once more. She switched to the dining room camera, hoping to find her there. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw another shadowy figure standing very close to the camera. Then she looked closely at the screen, trying to make out the shape of the body and head.

“Is that you, Chica?”

Hoping that it was, she flicked to the west hallway camera and had to stop herself from crying out when she saw that Bonnie had once again disappeared from her sight. She went to check the west hall corner camera but then remembered she didn’t actually hear him coming towards her office.

“Where, then?” she asked herself before, looking back at the screen, she saw the door in the wall and remembered that the supply closet had a camera in it too. “I wonder…”

Checking that very camera, her suspicions were thankfully confirmed when she saw him, standing right up against the shelves, just under the hanging lightbulb.

She laughed quietly to herself. “What are you doing in there, silly rabbit?” she whispered. “You must know that’s not my office, surely.”

Instantly regretting saying that out loud, she checked on Pirate Cove again and saw that the curtains remained closed, just like every other time she had checked that camera before. She began to wonder if Phone Guy was telling her the truth, that the only reason Foxy never came out of hiding was because Iona really was checking his camera often enough to keep him in place or if he really was out of order after all.

 _It doesn’t matter_ , she told herself. _Just stick to the same strategy you’ve been using so far and everything should be fine… hopefully._

Another half hour later, she was down to 70%. Not bad for 1:30 am, she supposed. But now it was time to check on the others again. After checking Pirate Cove and getting the same result, she checked the show stage and saw Freddy still standing there. She checked the dining room camera and whimpered when she saw Chica was no longer there. She checked the restroom camera to see if she was there, but she wasn’t. She wondered if she had gone straight to the east hallway. She checked that camera and just about dropped her monitor in fright when she saw her standing there in the darkness, illuminated only by the soft glow of the ceiling lightbulb a few feet in front of her. Her eyes had that same half-lidded stare and her beak hung open in a grin, revealing those horrid teeth once more.

Iona shuddered at the sight but decided it was time to check on Bonnie. She switched to the supply closet camera and was relieved to see he was still there.

_But for how long?_

Things weren’t looking too good. Only an hour and a half into her shift and already she was being flanked. Soon she would be completely surrounded with no other option but too keep herself locked up in her office. That is until the power ran out and the doors opened automatically again, then she would have nowhere to run or hide. She rolled the baseball bat under the sole of her shoe, reassuring herself of its presence, but wishing she had brought some other kind of weapon with her also.

Yet another half hour passed. Iona checked her watch and saw that it was now 2 am, but just as she was about to check the cameras again, she heard those same heavy footsteps she heard the night before coming towards her office. She froze in her seat for a second before daring to stand, retrieving her baseball bat from under the desk as she did, and tiptoed towards the door to her left, gripping the bat in both hands, prepared to strike anything she saw that might’ve been a threat. She knew that that must’ve been Bonnie approaching because this was the door to the west hall where he she had last seen him.

She was tempted to close the door right there and then but, remembering how much power the doors used when closed, she forced herself not to press the door button. Instead, she listened to the footsteps, getting louder as they got closer to her, wondering if they would pass her to the corner beyond the doorway. She fought not to hyperventilate, knowing just how close the thing was getting to her, but found she couldn’t hold back the shallow breaths that escaped her all the same.

Suddenly the footsteps stopped and Iona had no idea if the creature they belonged to had passed her or stopped just at the door. She stared into the darkness just outside her hallway, her heart pounding in her chest as her finger hovered over the light button. She knew she would have to check the light first before closing the door, but she was so afraid of what she would see if she did. Finally mustering up the courage, she pressed the button, turning the hall light on. Bonnie stood at the door, leaning in towards her slightly and staring straight at her with unblinking magenta eyes and his mouth opened slightly in a sinister, toothy grin. Upon the instant she saw him, Iona screamed and slammed her fist against the door button, causing the iron panel to slam down between her and the rabbit before he even had a chance to move. 

Turning the hall light off, Iona turned and leaned against the now closed door, her hand pressed over her thumping heart as she began to pant heavily. “Oh God, that was too close…”

She jumped again when she heard banging coming from the other side of the door, causing the panel to vibrate with the impact. “Open the door, Iona!” called Bonnie’s voice from outside. “It’s just me!”

“Go away!!!” she just about screamed, striking her bat hard against the door in an attempt to shoo him away. “Leave me alone!”

Then she heard more footsteps coming from the east hall. Wondering if that was Chica approaching, she dashed to the door to the other side of her office and listened. When the footsteps stopped, she pressed the light button and gasped loudly when the light came on, revealing the chicken in question peering in at her through the window next to the doorway. Her violet eyes and her beak were both wide in what looked like excitement as she stared at Iona. The guard instantly hit the door button, completely barricading herself within her office and cutting off the robot’s way of entry, and turned off the light so she wouldn’t have to endure the chilling sight of Chica gawking at her like that.

“Aw, what’s wrong, Iona?” she heard Chica’s slightly high-pitched voice ask in what sounded like a hurt tone. “Don’t you like us anymore?”

Although the light was off, Iona turned to face the window next to her, eyes wide and mouth spreading to a huge grin of disbelief. “Aye, sure I do!” she yelled sarcastically in her Scottish accent once more, trying in vain to hide her growing panic. “Efter being telt jus’ last night that ye bastards luv tae wonder aboot efter midnight n’ try tae stuff anyone ye see intae a mechanical suit! Aye, that’ll be right!”

“But we’re not gonna do that to you, Iona!” Bonnie’s voice said from behind the other door, somehow seemingly able to understand the strong dialect in which she spoke.

“An’ why should I believe ye!?” she snapped back towards the direction of the rabbit’s voice.

“Because you’re our friend, remember?” answered Chica from outside her own door.

Iona laughed at that. “Aye, sure!” she scoffed. “Like I’ve never heard _that_ line afair!”

“Look, Iona!” Bonnie’s voice persisted. “If we wanted to kill you, Freddy would’ve taken care of that last night.”

Iona paused again, remembering her first encounter with Freddy when he stepped into her office after the power drained. He _did_ seem pretty sincere when he told her that he and the others meant her no harm despite what they had done to the other night guards in the past. Though after everything that had happened to her these last couple of nights, and only having had this job for that long, she really wasn’t sure she could trust him, or any of them for that matter.

“We just wanna be your friends again,” pleaded Chica, breaking the awkward silence. “Just like the good old days. Remember when you came here as a child?”

“Yer no gonnae take me in _that_ easily wi’ aw that friendship talk!” Iona retorted. “Fur all I know, this could jus’ be another trick tae try n’ lure me intae your trap!”

“Oh, come on!” said Bonnie. “Why the heck would we do that!”

“Bonnie, Chica,” she heard another familiar voice say from further down one of the hallways. “Guys, just leave her alone.”

Iona gasped when she heard this third voice. Was that Freddy?

“What? Seriously, Freddy?” protested Bonnie, confirming Iona’s suspicions. “You’ve missed this girl as much as we have all these years, and now she’s back! Are you seriously telling me we can’t be friends with her now?”

“Believe me, Bonnie,” answered Freddy’s voice. “I’m just as happy to see Iona again as you are. But she’s only just learned about what we’ve been doing to the other security guards all these years. She’s really scared and confused right now and your insisting upon harassing her like this is not gonna help us regain her trust any faster. In fact, you’re just gonna freak her out even more that way. Seriously, come away from there now.”

“But, Freddy!” whined Chica.

“No buts, Chica!” answered Freddy, almost in a scolding tone now, similar to one a parent would use on their disobedient child. “I want you and Bonnie away from there this instant! Come on, both of you! Leave the poor girl in peace!”

“Aye, that’s right!” Iona added on spitefully, still brandishing the baseball bat in her hands. “Jus’ piss aff, the lot o’ ye!”

“As she says,” Freddy said to his friends once more. “Come on now.”

After a couple of seconds, Iona heard Bonnie let out a big, disappointed sigh. “Oh, all right,” he groaned resignedly before his footsteps began to descend down the corridor.

“No fair!” Chica protested as her own footsteps began to echo down her own hallway too. “I was so excited about having her back after all this time.”

“I know, Chica,” replied Freddy sympathetically. “But can’t you see she needs a little bit of time to herself first? I’m sure once she’s had the chance to figure this all out for herself, she’ll come round and trust us again. For now, let’s just give her some breathing space, okay?”

“Oh, okay, Freddy…” answered Chica, defeated.

Iona stood rigid to the spot as she listened to both robots’ footsteps echoing down the hallway, gradually becoming quieter until they faded into silence. Once she was certain she was alone once more, she closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead. Even on her second night at work, she still could not believe she was witnessing. These things were really alive. But how could such a thing be even possible? They were just animatronics, mechanical puppets. Nothing more. At first, she had assumed that any word spoken or any movement made by these robotic creatures was all just pre-programmed, possibly the work of the same people responsible for designing and building them in the first place. After finding out about their nightly antics, she had just thought it was down to some horrific malfunction which the company had simply overlooked or, for some ungodly reason, were never notified of. But no, the mascots were actually alive! They had personalities, emotions, memories, all of their own. They recognised her from when she was a child, so many years ago. Was that also how they were able to wander around the restaurant freely and independently? Was that also why they secretly harboured a desire to murder all the other night guards in cold blood? But for what reason?

All these thoughts running through her mind were making her feel dizzy, so she just shook them out of her mind so she could get back to work. Once she was sure that the animatronics were finally back in the dining room, she calmed down a little and sat back in her chair. She checked her camera again and saw that it now read 2:05 am. Checking camera for Pirate Cove, she saw that the curtains were still closed and wondered if Foxy really did still work during the night like Phone Guy said he did or if he was just telling her a sick joke just to freak her out. After everything she had seen and heard these past two nights, she really couldn’t be sure of anything anymore.

_~*One hour later*~_

It was now 3:05 am. During that past hour, Iona had been doing her usual routine of checking on Pirate Cove every five minutes and on the main three animatronics every half hour. Every time she checked the appropriate cameras, she always saw the exact same thing. Foxy had still never shown any signs of life and Freddy, Bonnie and Chica were either wandering aimlessly or standing motionlessly in amongst the tables in the dining room. Though at one point, when Chica had disappeared out of sight, Iona assumed she had gone into the kitchen because when she couldn’t find her anywhere on any of the other cameras, she heard what sounded like loud banging and metallic clattering coming from elsewhere in the building. When she checked the disabled camera in the kitchen, the sounds had gotten louder, meaning that someone was messing around in there. Iona knew instantly that that someone could only have been Chica.

 _She can’t be trying to get any food, surely_ , she had thought to herself. _She’s a robot, she can’t eat anything._

But in all that time, none of them had tried to make their way back to her office. She had opened the doors again shortly after they had left to conserve energy, but she never saw any of them in the hallway cameras or heard any approaching footsteps outside since. Now, that definitely was strange. Freddy did tell them to leave her alone until she came round. But why were they so eager to be friends with her again anyway? And why was Freddy so sure that she would eventually trust them again and leave her office, the only place in the entire building where she was safe, if even for a little while? Did they really mean everything they said? Did they really recognise her from the days she came here as a kid? Were they genuinely so happy to see her again after all these years? Or was this just their way of trying to lure her into a trap, a new technique they had adopted in capturing night guards? Then again, if they really _were_ that sneaky and that really _was_ part of some sinister plan of theirs, Freddy might not have mentioned wanting to regain her trust in front of her, certainly not loud enough for her to hear.

She had been fighting against it for the past hour. She really didn’t want to do it. She knew it would probably be a stupid, suicidal move, but she just couldn’t handle it anymore. She had to be sure about these robots’ true intentions with her. So she finally made her decision. She would leave her office, she would go to them, deliberately place herself at their mercy, just to see what they would do. She had her baseball bat with her, she would take it and use it if she had to, even if it meant her getting fired for damage to company property, she really didn't care anymore. She had to know just how honest they were being with her.

Finally putting down her camera, she went under the desk and grabbed her baseball bat again. When she stood, she grasped the bat firmly in both hands as she stared hard into the dark abyss outside her office door for a couple of seconds before finally mustering up the courage to step outside, slowly. Taking her flashlight from her belt, she switched it on and shone it in the corner behind her before aiming it down the hallway towards the main dining area. Nothing had been waiting for her in the darkness, but she could hear the sounds of someone strumming random notes on a guitar coming from the direction of the dining room. She instantly knew that that must’ve been Bonnie.

_What are they doing in there?_

There was only one way to find out, and she knew it. Feeling a droplet of sweat trickling down her temple, she gulped before forcing herself to turn and walk down the hallway. Her steps were slow and careful, the clicking of her healed shoes on the tiled floor echoing down the corridor, ricocheting against the walls. In one hand, she still aimed her torch in front of her to guide her way through the dark corridor with its flickering lightbulb at the end. In the other, she still gripped the baseball bat so hard that it almost hurt. Though despite that slight pain, it was a comfort to her. Somehow, knowing that she was armed had made her feel a little safer than she had the night before. Though her initial plan was not to allow herself to get close enough to them for her to need to use it, not until she was completely sure she could trust them anyway. She would go into the dining room, but still stay somewhat close to the corridor entrance. The minute she saw any of them do anything suspicious, she would immediately dash back to her office for shelter and there she would stay until the end of her shift. Should one of them chase after her, or worse, grab her before she had the chance to get away, then she would try to defend herself with the bat.

Soon, she came to the end of the corridor, the dying lightbulb flashing in spurts above her head and making her eyes hurt. But she didn’t care, she had to keep her eyes open for even the smallest sign of danger. She fought to control her breathing as she stepped out into the dining room. She looked around and, in what little light provided by the lights hanging over the tables, she saw them all, spread throughout the dining room. Bonnie was seated upon the stage, strumming away on his red guitar just like she heard him doing, Chica was just pacing aimlessly around the tables whilst Freddy Fazbear leaned against the wall between Pirate Cove and the storage room, arms folded and eyes to the floor, hard in concentration.

She took a few more cautious steps into the room, which must’ve finally caught their attention as she saw one of Bonnie’s long ears twitching up as if his attention was caught by a sudden noise he’d just heard. Ceasing his strumming altogether, he looked up and when he saw Iona standing mere inches from the table closest to the hallway she had just come through, his magenta eyes widened and his mouth opened in what looked like a smile.

“Hey! Look who finally decided to join us!” he announced cockily. 

The other two immediately glanced at the rabbit before turning the direction he was facing to see Iona standing near the entrance to the west corridor. All three robots started to step towards Iona, but stopped immediately when the night guard gripped her baseball bat in both hands, raising it up, ready to strike one of them if they got too close. Iona fought to control her breathing still as she looked around at the animals, all of whom stared at her hesitantly. Even from where she was, she could still see in their glassy eyes that they so wanted to approach her. Yet she also saw that they feared to, in case they just spooked the guard even more, resulting in them getting battered with the weapon she now brandished. She had to admit, the concern in their eyes did look genuine, but she still refused to let her guard down, refused to let herself be taken in by what she still knew could easily be an act. So she remained as she was, braced and ready to act upon her fight or flight instinct.

“We really missed you, Iona,” Chica said suddenly, finally breaking the awkward silence.

Iona turned to face the chicken for a split second before she snorted in disbelief. “Oh, you did, huh?” she retorted. “Is that why you’ve been killing all the other night guards all these years? Yeah, I’m _very_ touched!”

The animatronics just exchanged a few awkward glances between themselves before turning back to face her, a look of real guilt and embarrassment in their eyes now.

“Look, Iona,” Bonnie began, his voice low. “We know what we did was wrong, but the truth is, we don’t even know why we did it either.”

“Ha!” Iona laughed mockingly. “You don’t know!? What, are you guys crazy or something!?”

“We wish we _did_ know,” Bonnie continued. “It’s just that we were…” He trailed off and looked at Freddy, who seemed to be glaring at him across the room, as if to warn him not to say any more. Turning back to face Iona, the rabbit shook his head regrettably. “We just don’t know.”

Iona laughed again, lowered her bat and began to rub her forehead under her cap. “This is just wonderful…” she muttered. “A bunch of characters I’d loved as a kid have been going on murder sprees all these years, and even _they_ don’t know why.” She looked at them all again, her gaze hard as ever. “So if you guys don’t even know yourselves what it is you have against security guards, how the heck am I supposed to believe you all now when you tell me you won’t kill _me_?”

“We know all too well that we can’t make you believe us, Iona,” answered Freddy solemnly. “And to be honest, we’d never actually counted on you to give us the benefit of the doubt either. Not right now anyway.”

“Tch, I wonder why,” Iona scoffed again. “Cuz it seems you guys just seem to hate night guards, and for reasons that aren’t even known to yourselves. So what reason could you possibly have for not wanting to kill me too? Am I like special or something?”

“You are _very_ special, Iona,” Chica stated. “To us.”

Iona looked at the yellow bird again. “Oh, yeah? And why is that?”

“Have you forgotten already?” asked Freddy.

“It’s because we _know_ you, Iona,” Bonnie carried on. “We know you from when you were a kid, when you came here all the time.”

Iona just looked around at all of them again, her anger and fear quickly evaporating, but confusion and disbelief remaining. “But how can that be?” she asked. “You guys are just mechanical puppets, right? All your words, all your actions, all your performances, they’re just pre-programmed, aren’t they? How could you possibly recognise me, especially after so many years?”

Freddy shook his head. “No,” he answered. “We’re not pre-programmed. The technology behind our creation was very advanced for the time. We were made with our very own built-in personality chips, so we could see, hear and experience everything that goes on around us and react to it in our own ways, just like if we were real animals, or even humans.”

“As it turns out,” Bonnie stated. “Artificial intelligence comes with artificial emotions too.”

“Uh-huh…” Iona nodded, it all finally starting to make sense to her now. “So does that mean you guys can actually remember things that happened from far back too?”

“Our memories go all the way back to the very moment we were all first activated,” answered Bonnie. “Twenty years ago, when this restaurant was first opened.”

 _Around the same time my family and I first moved here to America_ , thought Iona.

“You were very dear to us, you know,” said Chica. “We remember very well how excited you always were when you were here, especially whenever it came to interacting with us. Because of all the love and affection you were always willing to show us, you were much closer to us than any of the other children could hope to have been. You were our best friend, Iona. More than that, you were part of the family. And even after all these years, after you left, you still are.”

Iona just couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was it true then? Had these robots, these characters who she had loved and adored as a child, really cherished her as much in return? She never thought such a thing was possible. Sure, they always responded to everything she said to them as if they were human adults who lived out in the real world. She really shouldn’t have been surprised about the whole personality chip thing in that case, as that was the reason why. But even so, she never would’ve guessed that she meant any more to them than the next child did, let alone that they saw her as a very close friend, that they considered her part of their family. The very notion would’ve made her well up with sheer happiness had it not been for the doubt that she could trust them that still lingered in her mind. Though now, that doubt was wavering somewhat.

“That’s why,” Bonnie went on. “Despite everything we’ve done, despite all the other night guards we’ve killed, we won’t harm _you_ , Iona. You mean way too much to us. We all love you very much. Besides, we know how much you loved it here as a kid. You had a great childhood here. We all saw that look of euphoric nostalgia on your face when you stepped into this building for your job interview yesterday. How could we possibly destroy such awesome childhood memories for you by doing to you what we did to the other guards?”

Yeah, she guessed Bonnie did have a point, and they all sounded so sincere about everything that they said. But still, could she really believe them? Could she really be so sure that this wasn’t just them being sneaky? Could she?

“We really are very happy to see you again, Iona,” said Freddy. “I know you still might not believe us even now, but all I can say is that everything you’ve just heard is the honest-to-goodness truth.”

“So what do you say, Iona?” asked Chica, a hint of hope in her voice. “Are we friends again?”

“Yeah, you back with us?” asked Bonnie.

Sighing, Iona folded her arms and cast her eyes to the floor, taking a moment to think. Suddenly, she found that she was at war with herself. The smart, cautious adult in her was really trying to insist that she couldn’t just blindly believe everything they were telling her, especially after having just admitted to everything they had done all these years. The naive, sentimental child in her was telling her that these were the same characters who brought her so much happiness once upon a time and despite everything they’d done, they would never lie to her, they would never betray her friendship. What could she do? She wanted to believe them, or at least to give them the benefit of the doubt, to give them the chance to prove that everything they said was true, but then that would risk falling into their trap like the gullible idiot she refused to be. If indeed there really _was_ a trap to fall into in the first place.

She looked back up at them, blue, magenta and violet eyes all staring back at her expectantly, hopefully, eagerly. That was it, that was all she saw in them. No malice, no bloodlust, no evil, sadistic excitement threatened to show themselves in those glassy orbs. Just sheer love and tenderness, the very look you would give to someone you really loved, someone you really would do all you could to make them happy, someone who really was part of your family. Someone who was your oldest and dearest friend.

Finally somewhat convinced, but still not completely, Iona willed herself to place the baseball bat on one of the tables and switched off her flashlight, strapping it back onto her belt and she began to take slow, cautious steps towards the animatronics, just like when she came down the corridor. Freddy, Bonnie and Chica too started to walk forward until they met her in the centre of the room, their mouth parts opening in the same friendly smiles she recognised from the days of her childhood.

“Friends?” asked Freddy as they all extended their hands out to her.

Iona looked around at each of them one final time, needing one last confirmation that she was indeed safe with them, that she really was with old friends from her past. Towering over her, their forms strong and bulky, looking as though they could be strong enough to hold her down should she let her guard down and unwittingly allow them to catch her. Though their eyes still shone with that genuine friendliness and their mouths were still smiling warmly down at her. She turned her attention back to the three hands that had been extended to her, thick fingers spread slightly apart.

Finally, in what felt like a long time, she too smiled as she nodded. “Friends,” she answered, reaching her own hand out. Freddy and Bonnie both closed their large paws around Iona’s smaller hand, but only held her there for a split second before Iona cried out in surprise as she found herself being lifted off her feet, gripped tightly in a pair of huge, thick yellow arms.

“YAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!” Chica cheered with sheer delight as she spun the guard around in her arms. “Iona’s back!!!”

As soon as she was placed back on the ground, Iona staggered on her feet for a few seconds, feeling dizzy from Chica spinning her around like that.

“Heh heh, thanks, Chica,” she laughed awkwardly as she regained her composure. “Really appreciate it.”

“So,” spoke Bonnie. “Tell us how you’ve been.”

Iona just looked at him. “What?”

“Yeah!” said Chica enthusiastically. “It’s been so long since we last saw you!” Pulling out a chair from under one of the tables, she gestured to it for Iona to sit down. “Here, take a seat. You must have so much to tell us.”

“Hm… I don’t know,” Iona answered uncertainly, sitting down in the chair that had been offered to her. “I don’t know if there’s anything really exciting I can tell you guys.”

“Oh, come on!” insisted Bonnie, leaning in as if eager to hear what she had to say. “Eighteen years is such a long time. You must have _something_ cool to tell us.”

“Well…” she trailed off, trying to think of all the things she could tell them about her life since the day she left. “My family and I did move out of town eighteen years back. That was why I stopped coming here actually.”

Freddy nodded again. “I thought you might’ve,” he simply stated.

Iona glanced over to him for a second before continuing. “I never had such a great time at school. Always got picked on and bullied and stuff. I think the worst of it was while I was in high school. I was never very popular and didn’t have much in the way of friends either.”

“That’s awful,” Chica said sympathetically.

Iona just shrugged. “It happens, I guess,” she simply replied. “Anyway, after school, I briefly attended a couple of colleges, including an acting school.”

“Oh, cool!” chirped Bonnie. “Was that something you’ve always been interested in?”

“Well, not exactly,” Iona answered him. “I actually once wanted to be a singer when I was in high school, thanks to a strong love for music I’d had for some time. But because of a few unfortunate circumstances, that wasn’t exactly possible, but years later, an interest in pursuing some acting career was sparked in me too.”

“So what happened then?” asked Freddy. “Was that any successful?”

Iona just looked at him again. “If it was, I wouldn’t be working here now, would I?” she asked with a grin. 

Thankfully catching onto her joke, the bear chuckled quietly in response. “I suppose not.”

“So what made you give that up too?” asked Bonnie.

Iona sighed. “Ugh, it was just really stressful,” she told him. “It was too far away from where I lived, the cost of the classes was a bit much for my purse and some of the other people I worked with were insufferable. It all kinda interfered with my actual performance, so I just… dropped out, I guess.”

“That’s a shame,” said Chica again.

Iona tried to think of more she could say. “But in between those,” she went on. “I did work at a couple of charity stores. Well, one of them was an on-again-off-again volunteer position. And…” She shook her head and shrugged. “That’s all, really?”

“That’s all?” repeated Bonnie, sounding a little disappointed.

“Well, my life hasn’t exactly been very exciting these past eighteen years, so,” she told him again.

“But there must be more to tell us, surely,” persisted Chica. “It doesn’t have to be work or school related. What about your personal life?” She smirked just then. “Any cute boys?”

Iona laughed quietly at that. “Well, I have had a few boyfriends here and there, but…” she trailed off before shaking her head sadly. “They never really worked out.”

“Why was that?” asked Freddy.

“I don’t know,” answered Iona. “I guess they either just weren’t my type or they just didn’t appreciate me as much as I’d hoped they would.”

“Aw, that’s too bad,” said Bonnie. “More fool them, of course.”

“Don’t worry, Iona,” Chica told her reassuringly. “You’ll find someone good enough for you one day.”

“You really think so?” asked Iona.

“Hell, yeah!” said Bonnie encouragingly. “Pretty girl like you, the right guy is _bound_ to be waiting for you out there somewhere.”

“And it’ll happen when you least expect it,” added Chica. “In fact, the one you’re destined to be with might just live in this very town. Perhaps you’ve met him already. Perhaps…” She giggled with a mischievous glint in her eyes as she looked around the room. “Perhaps he is in this very building right now.”

Though they all knew she was only joking, Iona and the other two animatronics automatically glanced around the room themselves, as if search for this mystery man who might be lurking in the shadows, just waiting to emerge and whisk the young night guard away on a white horse. But they found no one.

Turning her gaze back to her friends, Iona laughed and shook her head. “Well, that would’ve been too much to ask.”

Chica laughed back. “But it’s true. You’ll find the right guy eventually, I’m sure.”

Iona nodded. “I’m sure I will,” she smiled. “Thanks, Chica.”

“So…” said Bonnie again. “What made you decide to move back into town after all these years anyway?”

“Oh, you know,” Iona answered casually. “I just fancied having a place of my own and the apartments here were the closest to where we lived that were currently being advertised. Thankfully, we weren’t too far away, we had just moved into the next town.”

“And what made you decide to start working here?” asked Freddy.

“Well, obviously I needed some kind of job to help me pay the rent for my new home,” she told him. “And when I saw the ad in the paper, I just couldn’t help applying for it, you know?”

“So you never forgot us after you left?” asked Chica happily.

“Well, to be honest,” Iona began, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. “I had never really thought about this place much since I left.” She looked around at them, suddenly feeling uncomfortable for having admitted that to them. “Sorry.”

Freddy shook his head. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’m sure you always had more pressing things to think about in your life. Besides, it’s probably better that you didn’t think about things from your past all the time.”

“I guess you’re right,” replied Iona. “But if it helps, it all came back to me when I saw the vacancy and I was just so overcome with nostalgia and the memory of just how happy being here had always made me, I guess working here was the only thing I wanted to do at that moment.”

“Well, whatever the reason,” Freddy began with a smile. “We’re all very happy you made that decision to work here. We’re all so glad to have you back with us, especially after all this time.”

“Indeed we are,” agreed Bonnie, nodding.

“Welcome back, Iona,” smiled Chica, placing a large, yellow hand on her shoulder.

Iona smiled brightly as she looked around at them all. “Thanks a lot, you guys.”

That proved it. Even though she now knew of all the other night guards these animatronics had murdered, she could also see now that she really could trust them, that she really could believe their word when they said they wouldn’t kill her. Here she was, sitting in amongst them and telling her about her life between now and the day she left all those years before as if they were some really close friends of hers she had not seen for a very long time. And that was exactly what they were. When she was a child, Iona had honestly believed that the characters saw her as nothing more than just another child visiting the pizzeria they had to interact with. Yet knowing now that they actually loved her the most of all the other kids, that they still harboured that love for her after she left and that it was still as strong as ever now that she was back, even though she herself was a security guard now, she couldn’t have felt even happier. She really couldn’t doubt their promises that they wouldn’t harm her anymore. These were the self same cheerful, friendly characters she had known as a child, today still treating her with the same love and affection they had had for her all those years ago. 

They really were her friends, just like they said. Always had been and always will be. She couldn’t help but smile to herself, knowing that that was the one thing that hadn’t changed in all these years. This one amazing part from her childhood, of this place, had remained the same and she wouldn’t have had it any other way. Right now, working as the night shift security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where her oldest and dearest friends were, there was nowhere else in the world she would rather have been.


	7. Chapter 6: Don't Forget Your Old Shipmate

The next morning, when she got home, Iona had been unable to catch a wink of sleep. This was strange because when she left the pizzeria after finishing her shift, she had felt very happy at first. She’d reunited with old friends from her childhood, only just learning that night that she had held a special place in their hearts just as they did hers all along. Better yet, this new job of hers meant that she could now have the entire restaurant to herself, which also meant the company of the animatronic mascots. They would be hers and hers alone to spend time with all night every night. As a child, that had been something she’d always wished for, that she could stay at Freddy’s after all the guests and workers had gone home and the place was closed for the night. Nobody else in the building but her, nobody else for the robots to talk to, play with and perform for. No one else, just her. Had she known that any kind of night shift position existed there at all, let alone night security, she would’ve jumped at the very idea of taking said job when she was older.

And there she was just a few hours ago, locked in the restaurant, all alone with them, talking to them all night with no one else there to distract them from her, knowing she would have that same privilege every time she’d come in for work, just as she had wished once upon a time. At that moment, nothing could’ve made her happier. A sort of childish possessiveness of them had been awakened in her, like it probably would’ve done eighteen years ago if she’d known then that such a job existed. Being able to stay in the pizzeria over night with the characters she’d always loved and adored? To spend so many hours with them when no one else was around so that the only person they could talk to was her? Nothing could’ve sounded more precious to her, an opportunity that was just too amazing to pass up.

She had been completely and utterly convinced that they were the same Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie and Chica she had known as a child, but after returning home, as she thought more about them, her happiness began to waver again as the doubt on whether or not she could really trust them began to return to her. She tried to shake it out of her mind, tried to tell herself that that was just the paranoia creeping back into her mind. Though it seemed the harder she tried, the bigger it grew in her mind. Was it really wise of her to place her trust in them again, especially after their admitting everything they’d done in the past? Were they really being completely honest with her about how much they loved her? Was it safe to let her guard down around them and tell them everything about her life after she’d left? Were they really all as reformed as they claimed to be after all the night guards they’d killed? What if that all really was just an act, part of some sinister plot of theirs to try and catch her? What if they intended to use all the information she’d given them about herself against her? But which details could they possibly use and how? And for what reasons could they have to do so anyway?

She’d only gone back there a second night to try and find out just what was going on there, but it seemed that the more time she’d spent at Freddy’s, the more difficult it became for her to understand. Was she really in safe hands or was it all a trap? She hoped she was wrong, she hoped it was all just her paranoia talking, but having worked there for so little time, could she really be sure? And could she be sure it was safe for her to go back there for a third night?

Try as she would, she just couldn’t get any sleep. All these thoughts and questions kept on racing through her mind, keeping her awake. After hours of tossing and turning, she turned and looked at her clock. 12:00 pm. That was it, she gave up. Despite how tired she was, she had no choice but to accept that this was a wakeful night, or morning, for her. Throwing the covers off her irritably, she stood up from her bed and marched through to the bathroom.

Running the cold faucet, she splashed the water onto her face to try and shock some sense back into herself and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair all ruffled and messy from all the tossing about in bed, her face pale as a ghost and dark, shadowy bags under her eyes due to lack of sleep, she looked at least twenty years older than she really was. She shook her head. Any job that left her in such a state could never be healthy. Maybe she should just quit after all, she thought. She still wasn’t sure it was such a good idea to work at a restaurant with a dark, bloody past which made her question the safety of the place.

Yet why was she still questioning it? Why was she still wondering how safe she could possibly be with the animatronics, who had admitted to killing all the other night guards and yet swore that they would not harm her? She wanted to believe them, she wanted to trust them again as much as she did when she was a child, but even now, something in her mind still told her that she couldn’t. Not yet anyway. What could she do? Should she stay on the safe side and just quit? Forget about Freddy’s altogether and pretend she never had anything to do with it, never speak of it again to anyone? Or should she stay at least one more night, give the animatronics another chance to really prove themselves to be her friends? And could she really leave without at least saying goodbye them, regardless on how uncertain she was if she could really trust them?

All these questions just kept rushing through her mind, so much so that she barely even noticed herself getting washed, eating breakfast or getting dressed. She wasn’t even sure how she ended up finding herself walking out the door. She didn’t complain though, she figured a walk would be the thing she needed to help clear her mind a little, so she could think more rationally about her position and make a more sensible decision.

Her mind still plagued with all these thoughts, she wandered aimlessly around town, not really paying attention to where she was going. Her surroundings, the buildings, the streets, the people she passed, they were all non-existent to her as she just passed through and around them like a ghost. She was even deaf to the music she was listening to on her iPod, the earphones only seeming to lock her away from the world around her even more, trapping her within her own thoughts. She wasn’t even aware of how far she’d travelled or how long she had been walking for, but before she knew it, she found herself looking at another very familiar sight, one she had not once thought of going to since she first moved into town.

_Is that… my old house?_

There was no doubt about it. There she was, standing right in front of her old family home. Although the bricks had been painted a bright blue instead of that dull beige colour she remembered them as, this was definitely it. It had to be. She and her sister had walked back to it together from school often enough when they were children.

How had she ended up here? How did she find it, especially since she hadn’t even been looking for it? She had no idea, but still, it was nice to see her old place again, especially after so many years. And yet, despite how happy seeing it now made her feel, she felt a little bit sad too. Not out of nostalgic memories of her childhood, but the memories of the day she and her family suddenly had to leave it behind. Even now, she still didn’t understand why they had to leave. Everything seemed alright at the time, so what could possibly have driven her and her family from this house, from this town so suddenly?

She took a few steps back down the sidewalk, the one which she and her sister had walked down together often enough when going to or coming home from school. That was when it happened in fact. 

_(Flashback start)_

It was just a few days after her parents suddenly brought her home from Freddy Fazbear’s, the last time she would see that place again for eighteen years. After what was just another regular day at school, she and her sister were practically skipping up the sidewalk together towards their house, but stopped short when they saw the police car parked exactly where Iona was standing right now.

Confused and a little bit frightened, they both stood still were they had stopped, just staring at the vehicle ahead of them. What was it doing there? At five years old, the only thing Iona had understood about the police was that they threw bad people in jail. So why had they come to her family’s home? There weren’t any bad people living with her. She, her sister, her parents, none of them had done anything bad, nothing that would merit them being thrown into jail. So why were they here?

“Come on, Iona,” her sister whispered beside her, pulling her by the arm along the rest of the sidewalk. “It’s just a car.”

Iona knew that her sister was just trying to reassure her that nothing was wrong, but she could hear in her voice that even _she_ wasn’t convinced of her own words either. As they walked slowly along the sidewalk, Iona remained transfixed by the police car, never taking her eyes off it as her sister dragged her back towards their house until they had walked in through the front door.

Upon entering the house, the first thing Iona noticed was that the house had gone deadly quiet; the only things that could be heard were voices. Her parents’ voices and two others, ones she did not recognise.

Her sister turned round to her. “Ssshh,” she said quietly, putting a finger to her lips, even though Iona had not made a sound.

They both snuck through the hall and peered through the door into the sitting room. Their parents sat together on one couch. Their mother looked somewhat panicked, but had somehow managed to keep her composure, probably because their father was clutching her hand tightly in his, his expression a lot calmer but still serious. Seated on the other couch across the room from them were two police officers, a man with hair that had been shaved so close to his head that Iona couldn’t tell what colour it was supposed to have been and a woman with dark hair tied back in a ponytail. The woman held a small notebook in one hand and a pen in the other.

Even now, Iona couldn’t fully remember what they were talking about in that room. To a five-year-old, grown-up conversation was pretty much a foreign language. Even when she was there listening to them, they would always just talk away to each other, using words and phrases she did not understand, never seeming to care whether or not she’d be able to work out what the hell they were talking about. Though she could remember understanding some pieces of the conversation. She’d heard the words, “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza” mentioned quite a few times, so she knew this conversation was related to Freddy’s somehow. She remembered her mother mentioning someone bringing Iona back to her, being told that there was someone in the building that Iona was not safe around and being urged to take her home immediately. Of course Iona would’ve remembered hearing this, since she had remembered that actually happening at the time. She never understood the full conversation, but she still got the vague impression that something bad must’ve happened at Freddy’s. About as much as she could understand now.

For what felt like long minutes, Iona and her sister just listened in on this conversation, until the two police officers finally stood up, thanked her parents for their help and proceeded to leave the sitting room together. Her sister pulled her closer to the wall with her as both cops came out into the hall and passed them towards the front door. The female officer looked down at the two girls, smiled and winked at them as she went. Once they had stepped out of the house, closing the door behind them, Iona’s mother came out into the hall, a look of real panic in her eyes now.

“Oh, girls!” she said in surprise when she saw her two daughters. Despite her obvious fear, she was now smiling and had managed to remain somewhat calm, though Iona could hear from her shaky voice that panic was in danger of breaking through. “I-I didn’t hear yous two come in. Uh… could the both of you just run along upstairs for a few minutes? Your dad and I have something to discuss.”

Without answering, Iona’s sister just started to obediently lead her towards the stairs. Iona herself didn’t need much persuasion either to follow her sister upstairs towards their rooms, being as ever blindly obedient to her parents as any other child would be.

“It’s okay, Iona,” her sister spoke in that same reassuring tone again as before, once they had reached the top of the stairs. “I don’t think we’re in trouble for anything. But if you’re too scared to be alone, you can come into my room with me. We can watch some cartoons or something.”

“I’m not scared,” Iona simply answered. “But okay.”

They were just about to walk together into her sister’s room, but stopped when they suddenly heard what sounded like their mother shouting from downstairs. It was then that Iona really began to feel upset; she never liked to hear her mother shouting, whether it be at her, her sister, her father, or about someone or something else that had made her angry. She couldn’t pinpoint why it had made her so upset. She loved her mother very much and she knew her mother loved her too and she had never once treated her or her sister in any truly appalling manner, never called them any harmful slurs or lifted a hand to either of them. In fact, all her life, her mother had been nothing but loving, kind and protective to both her children and only raised her voice to them when either had done something naughty. But there was always something about the way her mother’s voice sounded when she shouted that was just so unpleasant, so sharp, so traumatic. Though instead of bursting into tears like she usually did whenever she heard her mother’s raised voice, she stepped back towards the stairs, ignoring her sister who had tried to get her to come back, and leaned against the banister, gripping the rungs in both hands as she listened.

Again, she couldn’t make out the words her mother used as she shouted and screamed the way she did. All she was aware of was her mother’s raised voice and her father, his voice also raised but not quite as much, sounding more calm, as if he were trying to calm his wife. Again, she couldn’t remember much that her parents were saying, only her mother saying that Iona and her sister were not safe here, that they had to get of here immediately and her father telling her not to be ridiculous.

This upset Iona even more. She didn’t want to leave this house, this town. It was her home, the only world she knew. Leaving it would mean leaving her comfort zone, her friends at school, and worst of all, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, her favourite place in town, in the whole world. As she listened to her mother’s panicked screams, she didn’t cry out loud, only allowed silent tears to run down her face and fall all the way down to the carpet a few feet below.

Shortly afterwards, when her parents had both calmed down, they approached Iona and her sister with the news she had dreaded the most: they would indeed be moving out of town. She remembered the next few days all too well, the sadness, the fear, the dread and the numbness she’d felt at the time had been permanently burned into her brain, a scar in her memories. She remembered she and her sister packing their belongings away into bags and boxes. She remembered how hollow and empty each room in the house became as things were moved, shifted and taken out, away from their usual spots. She absolutely hated it, the echo of her and her family’s voices bouncing off all the walls. No harder evidence could there have been that her world was changing, that her life was falling to pieces all around her. Every time she saw the boxes everywhere or heard the echoes in empty rooms, she would always just sink to the ground and cry. That was it, she would just sit and cry until someone, usually her father, would come over, pick her up in their arms and just hold her close to them, rock her back and forth and try to reassure her that everything was alright. 

The worst of it was during the last day, when finally all the furniture and boxes were loaded into the back of the van and their mother drove their car out of their driveway for the last time. Iona could never forget the sinking feeling in her chest as she watched her house slowly shrinking into the distance until it had finally disappeared out of sight. At that point, she turned, sank back into her seat and cried again. Her mother had told her to stop, but she just couldn’t help it, especially since she really didn’t understand why they had to leave. She was leaving her only world behind, about to enter into a new and unfamiliar one and it terrified her. She didn’t want to leave, she wanted to stay there forever. Even her sister, who was seated in the back next to her, gripping her hand tightly in her own didn’t console her. Nothing was comforting, not to a small child who was suddenly being torn away from her only true home, and, worst of all, for reasons she didn’t know. Nothing could’ve made her feel better that day, and nothing did.

_(Flashback end)_

The feeling of tears she hadn’t even noticed she’d shed running down her cheeks was enough to bring Iona back to the present. Embarrassed, although no one else was around to see, she quickly wiped them away and looked back up at the house. Inexplicably, she found her feet taking her round the corner of the hedge that separated her from it. 

She looked into the front garden, where a slide and a couple of swings stood. Not the ones she had as a child, they were taken with them to their new home like everything else. Another family with children of their own lived there now. How long _had_ they lived there? Were they the same family that bought this house from her own all those years ago? If not, then how many families had moved in and out of here since then? Thinking all of this now, Iona really couldn't believe that this had once been her home anymore, even though it was clearly the same house. The garden was the same, the bricks, though now painted a different colour, were the same, the roof was the same, the windows were the same, even the rooms, which she could see through said windows, were the same, though all the furniture was different too.

It was the same house, but it still felt so very, heartlessly different. Someone else lived there now, someone else ate and slept in it now. It no longer belonged to her, it belonged to someone else now and Iona felt a slight sense of anger at the knowledge, which was strange to her, because this was just another ordinary part of life. People moved in and out of different homes all the time, but this was different. Her family didn’t just decide to move somewhere else because it was simply more convenient in any way. They were _forced_ out of this house, _she_ was forced out, by a tragic event that had taken place in this town. One that had occurred at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza of all places, and worse still, one she still knew nothing about to this day. Even though it was not the case, this was still the first home she had ever known, since she remembered nothing about her actual first home back in Scotland. This was the place she was attached to the most, even more so than Freddy’s. It was her own little world and nobody else’s. Never could she have imagined someone else living in her house, eating in her kitchen, sleeping in her room. All of that belonged to her and her alone. So for her to have to leave it all behind so suddenly, allowing another family to just wander in and call it home, it felt like the end of the world to her. Though over the years, as she got used to her new home, she had gradually forgotten about her old one and never once imagined she would come back to see it again someday. And yet here she was, standing outside her old childhood home, looking at it for the first time in eighteen years, knowing that it was no longer hers, but someone else’s.

_What happened here? What was it that caused me to have to leave this place?_

This place, though precious it had once been to her, just held way too many memories now. A swell began to rise in her chest and she decided that she had had enough of it. She turned and quickly walked back down the sidewalk towards the town, not daring to look back, before she would begin to cry again.

As she walked, she began to think about Freddy’s again. About whatever it was that had happened. About the animatronics. Why did she still feel like she couldn’t completely trust them, even after she had apparently warmed up to them again the night before? Hadn’t they told her enough to convince her that she was safe with them? She’d thought they had, and yet something still didn’t feel quite right. She felt like something was missing. Why did they go around killing security guards at night? What had happened there at Freddy’s eighteen years ago? Were the killings and this mysterious tragedy linked in some way? If so, then how?

They told her they wouldn’t kill her. They told her they knew her when she was a child. They told her they loved her, that they considered her their closest friend, part of their family. Could she really believe them? 

Perhaps they really were telling the truth. How could she forget how much time she had spent at Freddy’s? How often she spoke to the animatronics? They always seemed to recognise her whenever she came in, and they recognised her now. That much was evident, there was no denying it. They always spoke to her in a loving, friendly way, saying hello to her when she came into the restaurant, talking with her about anything at all, accepting drawings from her, hugging her, saying goodbye to her when she had to leave. That was certainly how they behaved when she was in the building, when she was in their presence. But now she knew they held a darker side they never showed her when she was gone, the side that stalked and hunted night guards like a pack of wolves and brutally murdered them when they’d caught them of guard. Did they really love her then, or was that just an act they put on during the day when they had to entertain the kids? But then, why keep that act up when she was working as a night guard, when she was alone with them? Was she really the only night guard they’d known prior to her working there? In as long as eighteen years, could that really be possible? Then again, Lenny did tell her that people in town were reluctant to go there now, so…

_No, something still isn’t right._

She found herself thinking about the last day she was there, the last time she would see them again for years. It was the same day that mysterious tragedy took place, she was sure of that now. Why else would her parents be urged to take her out of the building so suddenly? Perhaps Freddy had somehow known what was about to happen and didn’t want her to see it?

_Wait a minute. That was Freddy who did that!_

It was, she remembered now. She didn’t remember the whole day, she was too young for it all to stick in her mind after all. She only remembered little bits and pieces of it. She and five other children. The yellow rabbit with the cake that lured them away to another room, one she had never been in before. She didn’t see what was in the room; she hadn’t been in it long enough before Freddy Fazbear immediately showed up and took her out of the room. She wanted to go back in, but for reasons she couldn’t understand, he wouldn’t let her. She remembered how he held her hand tightly in his paw, how he practically dragged her away from the door, the worry in his eyes when he looked at her, how quickly he had picked her up and took her back to her family. Above all this, she remembered the urgency in his voice when he pretty much _begged_ her parents to take her home.

She stopped, the realisation finally hitting her. She never knew it before, because it was never something she’d allowed herself to think about since then; it was just too upsetting. But she thought about it now, and she knew it now. Something terrible had happened at the pizzeria, something that she could’ve been the victim of and whatever it was, it was Freddy Fazbear himself who had saved her.

But why? What was it he had saved her from? The other children, the man in the rabbit costume. Was it something that had happened to the children? And was the man in the costume, whoever he was, responsible for it? Did Freddy know that something awful was about to happen in his pizzeria? Did he know _what_ was going to happen? Did he know who the man in the rabbit suit was? If he did, then how?

What did it matter? The fact remained that he had saved her from him. And that was the final piece of evidence she needed to really convince her that the animatronics really meant her no harm. She was only a little girl that day when they last saw her, and eighteen years later, now that she had completely grown up, they still recognised her. They knew her very well because she was the one who talked to them the most. Of course they would recognise her despite her having reached adulthood. And if one of them really had saved her from some terrible fate, why then would they want to kill her now that she worked night shift there? Why then would they trick her into simply believing that she was still their friend just to lure her into some kind of death trap? It just didn’t seem logical, even for them, who had murdered hundreds of people without knowing the reason why themselves.

Iona felt an odd sense of relief wash over her at that moment. She hadn’t been lied to. She considered for a second that there still might’ve been a chance, a small one, that there was still some deception there, but try as she would, she could not think of where that deception might be. No, it just didn’t make any sense to her anymore. They recognised her from so long ago, she knew they did. She could’ve gone over all the evidence a hundred times in her mind if she’d wanted, but it was still as plain as the nose on her face that they definitely did recognise her. Not only that, but it was also clear that they still loved her now as much as they did then. They may very well have killed all the other guards that worked at the pizzeria before her, but why, if they knew and loved her that much, would they wish to kill her too? So many questions, so many possible reasons she’d tried to work out in her mind, but there was only one conclusion she could come up with.

_You guys were right all along. I’m not in danger there with you, am I?_

~

That night, even though she was finally sure that her job was safe, Iona still felt a little nervous as she walked up to the pizzeria again. She tried to tell herself that she didn’t have to be, that the feeling was irrational since she now believed the animatronics to be her friends, but for some reason, she just couldn’t shake it. She wasn’t scared, she wasn’t even uncomfortable or uncertain about the job anymore. Yet why were her nerves trying to play up again now that she was about to start her third night at work? Was it simply the dark itself that still spooked her a little, when it was nighttime and the lights were out? Or the fact that she was by herself with no other employees in the building with her? Except she _wasn’t_ by herself, she wasn’t isolated in her job. She had friends waiting for her inside, friends she was now convinced would not harm her. Perhaps it being alone with those friends was the very thing that made her nervous, but why?

_I guess a lot of people just get anxious about certain things, without actually knowing the reasons themselves._

Ignoring the feeling, she took the keys from her pocket, unlocked the doors and stepped inside. Locking the doors behind her, she turned back to face the animatronics on the stage, standing perfectly still in their usual positions. She smiled and nodded to them, as if to let them know that she was here before making her way through the main dining area and headed down the corridor towards her office.

_I do wish Lenny could get that lightbulb replaced_ , she thought as she squinted her eyes in the flickering light of the dying lightbulb as she passed beneath it.

Finally reaching her office, she swung her coat round the back of her chair, sat down by the desk and picked up the camera monitor. She turned it on and instantly found herself viewing the Show Stage camera as usual. She laughed quietly when she saw that both Bonnie and Chica had gone, leaving Freddy by himself on the stage.

“Thought you guys would just start your little strolls around the place now, huh?” she whispered, amused.

At that moment, the phone began to ring. Iona looked at it. 

“Oh, you again,” she said. “I wonder what he has to say now?”

The ringing clicked off and another recorded message from Phone Guy began to play. “ _Hello, hello?_ ” he called. “ _Hey, you’re doing great! Most people don’t last this long._ ”

Slightly shocked by this statement, Iona just stared hard at the phone for a moment.

“ _I mean, you know_ ,” Phone Guy began to explain. “ _They usually move onto other things by now. I-I’m not implying that they died. That - that’s not what I meant._ ”

Iona laughed again, a little nervously this time. “No, I’m sure they didn’t.”

Remembering that she herself was not in any danger, she calmed down once more and turned her attention back to the camera. She touched the square that would take her to the Backstage camera and found Bonnie aimlessly walking about behind the table, in front of the shelves where the spare mascot heads sat. He stopped and turned his face towards the camera, his mouth opening into a wide smile as he began to wave. Iona smiled too, knowing that gesture was meant for her and waved back at the rabbit on the screen.

“ _Uh anyway, I better not take up too much of your time. Things start getting real tonight_ ,” warned Phone Guy, but Iona ignored him, his warnings completely lost on her now. She switched to the Dining Area camera, where she found Chica standing in amongst the party tables. Frowning, the young night guard tilted her head as she looked at the chicken, who seemed to be just staring back towards the camera, pulling some kind of weird face. Her head was tilted back a little and both her eyes and beak were opened wide.

“What are you doing, Chica?” she faintly heard Freddy ask from way back in the dining room, sounding just as weirded out as Iona felt.

Chica’s eyes turned to the direction of Freddy’s voice for a split second before she broke her odd pose and began to laugh, eyes now closed, one hand over her stomach as the other brought up over her beak.

“Were you always this weird?” Iona asked out loud, confused from watching Chica’s strange behaviour on the camera.

“ _Uh… Hey listen, I had an idea_ ,” Phone Guy said suddenly, catching Iona’s attention once more as she looked back at the phone. “ _If you happen to get caught and want to avoid getting stuffed into a Freddy suit, uh, try playing dead. You know, go limp._ ”

Iona just raised an eyebrow. “What?” she asked. “How would _that_ help me?”

“ _Then there’s a chance that maybe they’ll think that you’re an empty costume instead_ ,” explained Phone Guy, but then after an awkward pause, he added, “ _Then again, if they think you’re an empty costume, they might try to… stuff a metal skeleton into you. I wonder how that world work. Y-yeah, never mind, scratch that. It’s best just not to get caught._ ”

Iona snorted. “Gee, thanks for that!” she scowled sarcastically at the useless piece of advice. “I mean, I’m sure you couldn’t have come up with something better than that! You know, something that might actually have been _helpful_ to the other night guards to ensure that they survived?”

Just another reason to be glad that she wasn't in any danger, she thought. She could hardly dare to bring herself to imagine just how uncontrollably furious she would’ve been at hearing that when she was so terrified for her life. 

_Last thing I want is to be screaming my head off at inanimate machines again._

“ _Um… okay, I’ll leave you to it_ ,” said Phone Guy at last. “ _See you on the flip side!_ ”

The phone clicked off and the message finally ended. Though just before Iona could turn her attention back to the cameras, she heard something else coming from the other end of the restaurant.

_Safe and sound at home agai-ai-ai-ai-ain_   
_Let the w-w-w-w-waters roar, Jack_   
_Sa-a-a-a-afe and sound at ho-o-ome again_   
_Le-le-le-le-let the waters roar, Ja-a-a-a-ack_

That voice. That song. Despite the broken, glitchy stutter, she recognised them both. The voice was deep and gruff with a very strong nautical accent. The song was a very old and famous sea shanty. One that had been sung to her before, by the owner of the voice. 

_Foxy?_

Right, he was supposed to be out of order, but according to Phone Guy, he still worked. A little. He just didn’t come out as often as the others because he didn’t like the cameras being on him. But why? Even if he still had some power in him, why did he keep himself shut away behind those curtains? Why did he hate being watched so much? Why did he only come out when no one had been watching him on the cameras for a long time?

Determined to find out why, Iona stood from the desk and walked to the door, removing her flashlight from her belt and switched it on. She shone the light into the corridor outside but didn’t walk down it just yet. She just stared down that way for a moment until the apparently camera shy fox’s voice began ringing up from Pirate Cove towards her once more with that same stutter.

_Lo-lo-lo-lo-long we’ve tossed on the rolling mai-ai-ai-ai-ain_   
_Now we’re safe asho-o-o-o-re, Jack_   
_Don’t forge-e-e-e-et your old shipma-a-a-a-ate_   
_Faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-eye-eye-eye-doe!_

As she listened, Iona walked quickly, almost running, down the corridor towards the dining room. When she reached the end of the hallway, she found the other three animatronics there too, staring into the room where Pirate Cove was.

“Does he ever come out of there?” she asked them.

Their attention caught, they all turned to face her and shook their heads sadly. “Only every so often,” answered Chica solemnly.

“But he doesn’t wander around the restaurant like the rest of us do,” added Bonnie. “He only comes out very briefly when the guards aren’t watching him on the cameras and just sprints towards the office. But if he can’t get there in time, he just bangs on the door and then runs straight back to his cove.”

_Si-i-i-i-ince we sailed from Plymouth So-o-o-o-ound_   
_Fou-ou-ou-ou-our years gone or nigh, J-J-J-J-Jack_   
_Was there e-e-e-e-ever chummies no-o-o-o-o-ow_   
_Su-u-u-u-uch as you and I-I-I-I-I-I, Jack?_

As Foxy sang that second verse, his words still sticking like a broken or overused CD, Iona stepped out into the dining room and shone her flashlight towards Pirate Cove. Her heart filled up with sadness and compassion as she stared towards the purple, starry curtains, pulled closed all the way without even the slightest crack between them, completely cutting the fox off from the restaurant outside. The “Out of Order” sign still stood stiffly in front of them as if it were a guard, as if that was what was keeping Foxy prisoner behind those curtains, preventing him from ever leaving or others from ever seeing him. And so it had done for so many years, the owners unable to afford to fix him thanks to the drastic decrease in customers.

_He must be so lonely in there_ , she thought.

“Don’t you guys ever talk to him?” she asked again. “You know, try to coax him out?”

The animatronics just exchanged glances before they awkwardly turned back to Iona, shaking their heads regrettably.

“We have tried,” Freddy answered. “But ever since that damn sign was put up, he’s been reluctant to come out and join us again.”

_Lo-o-o-o-ong we’ve tossed on the rolli-i-i-i-i-ing main_   
_Now we-e-e-e-e’re safe ashore, Ja-a-a-a-ack_   
_Do-o-o-o-on’t forget your o-o-o-o-o-old shipmate_   
_Fa-a-a-a-aldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe-oe-oe-oe-oe!_

Iona could really hear the sadness in Foxy’s voice now as he sang. A lump began to form in her throat. There was something about someone singing what was supposed to be a cheerful, upbeat song in a despairing tone that she always found somewhat disconcerting. And it was made even worse when that voice belonged to a malfunctioning robot, when that voice was interrupted by glitches. Poor old Foxy had been broken for years and had been left all on his own, probably forgotten about, behind those curtains all that time. She hated it. Hated the closed curtains, the sign declaring that the occupant was out of order, the melancholy singing which echoed from behind the curtains, the glitches that caused the voice to stammer and stick. It was something she never expected or wanted to see in a place like this. It felt so wrong and she couldn’t stand it.

_This is Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a place of happiness and friendship. No one should have to be sad or lonely here._

She had to do something. She couldn’t just stand idle and allow the characters that had once brought her so much joy to suffer in this fashion. It just wasn’t fair. These characters, including Foxy, have been bringing happiness to children for so many years. Why should they never be happy themselves? Why couldn’t they be allowed to get the same joy they had given to others for so long? Did the owners really think so little of the very mascots that made this restaurant, the very business that was supposed to be filling their wallets, what it was? Especially now that one of them had broken down and they no longer had the money to get him fixed? Did they just abandon him in there, like a slave that was now too old or too fragile to be of any use to them?

All alone, with no one that seemed to care about him anymore, or even remembered he ever existed. An outcast, a no-account.

She made her decision. She wasn't going to let Foxy keep himself shut away behind those curtains anymore. Even if the other animatronics couldn’t get him to come back out, that didn’t mean that she herself shouldn’t try either.

Still holding her flashlight out in front of her, Iona began to walk towards the curtains. She stopped just in front of the small stage, right in front of the “Out of Order” sign and slowly pulled back one of the curtains, not wanting to shine her light in at Foxy just yet in case it scared him. All the while, the fox had been singing the next verse:

_We have wor-or-or-or-orked the self-sa-a-a-a-ame gun_   
_Quarterde-e-e-e-eck divi-i-i-i-ision_   
_Sponger I-I-I-I and loader y-y-y-y-you_   
_Through-ough-ough-ough the who-o-o-o-ole commission_

“ _Long we’ve tossed on the rolling main, now we’re safe ashore, Jack_ ,” Iona sang the familiar chorus back at Foxy before he could, just like she and the rest of the children would when he sang that song to them years ago. In the glow of her flashlight, she could see his silhouette, his body slimmer than the other animatronics, not quite as bulky. His ears were large and pointed and his canine-like snout was long and pointed, sharp teeth lining his jaws which seemed to be opening and closing in wonky, disjointed swings. She saw him flinch the second she began to sing, but still she sang the last two lines to him: “ _Don’t forget your old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!_ ”

After a few second’s hesitation, Foxy finally turned back, his movements jerky and ungraceful, and faced the guard. When his one visible eye, the one that wasn’t concealed beneath a black eyepatch, landed on Iona, the yellow, glassy orb widened in surprise and recognition.

“Iona-a-a-a Blackbu-u-u-urn?” stammered the pirate, his head twitching to the side a couple of times like a nervous tick. “Can it really-y-y-y be you, la-la-la-lass?”

Smiling sadly, Iona nodded. “Yes, Foxy,” she answered. “It’s me. I work here now. I’m the new night guard.”

“A-a-a-a-argh,” sighed Foxy, his mouth opening in what looked as if it was supposed to be a smile, though there was still sadness evident in both his eye and his voice. “I-i-i-it be very good to see-ee-ee ye again, lass? Eighteen yea-ea-ea-ears, i-i-i-i-is it? Ye-e-e-e-e’ve really-y-y-y grown.”

Iona just looked at the fox, who she could still barely see in the darkness of his cove, despite the light from her torch. “You don’t sound too well,” she commented on his broken speech.

Foxy closed his eye and shook his head, his body still racked by frequent glitches. “No,” he said. “I be-e-e-e bro-bro-bro-o-o-o-oken, la-a-a-a-ass.”

“And they just left you back here?” asked Iona, still feeling ashamed of the pizzeria staff for not taking care of Foxy anymore.

“Wh-wh-wh-what e-e-e-else can they do-o-o-o?” Foxy asked back. “They-ey-ey-ey-ey can’t affor-or-or-ord to fi-i-i-i-ix me anymo-o-o-o-ore.”

“But…” Iona began, but paused before going on, “Foxy, you’re all alone back here, aren’t you?”

She heard Foxy sigh again and even that was broken up by his malfunctioning voice box. He looked back up at the guard and nodded in quick, shaky nods.

“But why?” asked Iona again. “Why do you keep yourself shut away back here, especially since you obviously still work a little? Don’t you wanna be with your friends?”

There was a moment’s pause as Foxy clenched his eye tightly shut as he looked down towards his stage floor once more, a truly pained and shameful look on his face now. “L-l-l-l-look at me-e-e-e-e,” was all he said in reply.

Iona watched as Foxy pulled back his curtains all the way and finally stood up to his full height, allowing the guard to really see him now. Iona aimed her flashlight up at Foxy and gasped, utterly shocked by what she saw. Not only was Foxy broken, he was a torn apart wreck! Both his arms were lined with gashes all the way down to his paw and hook. His tan trousers were shredded down to around his knees and both his legs had been completely stripped of his red fur, leaving behind nothing but the metal endoskeleton underneath. His left paw, the one that hadn’t been replaced with a large, silver hook, was also bare, revealing a clawed robotic hand. His chest was ripped wide open almost all the way down to his belly, exposing the metal ribcage inside. Horrified though she was, Iona was unable to take her eyes away from the fox’s mutilated body.

_Is_ this _why you’re never active when the cameras are on you?_ she thought. _Is_ this _why you don’t like being watched?_

Finally, she looked back up at the pirate. “Foxy,” she said softly, fighting back tears which threatened to cloud her vision. “What happened to you?”

Foxy crossed both his lacerated arms over his chest and turned away from the guard in shame. “Negle-e-e-e-ect, lass,” was his answer. “Tha-a-a-a-at be what happened to me. I-I-I-I broke do-o-o-o-own one day-ay-ay-ay-ay and the staff… they-ey-ey planned to repai-ai-ai-air me, but… wi-i-i-th the decline in busine-e-e-ess, they couldn’t a-a-a-afford to. So they just le-e-e-eft me he-e-e-e-ere. A-a-a-abandoned and forgotte-e-e-en. O-o-o-ver the yea-ea-ea-ea-ears, parts o’ me fu-u-u-u-ur and clo-o-othes rotted away and simply fell o-o-o-off me like I were an old co-o-o-o-rpse.”

He turned back to Iona who still looked at him with shock and sorrow in her eyes.

“Tha-a-a-at’s why I-I-I-I-I be keepin’ me self hidden away-ay-ay-ay in here and o-o-o-o-only come out every so o-o-o-often instead of roamin’ arou-ou-ound the restaurant like the others do,” he continued. “I ca-a-a-an’t let them see me like thi-i-i-is. If ever they were to see-ee-ee what had become of me-e-e-e-e,” he paused and closed his eyes in despair. “What could they-ey-ey-ey ever want to do with a scu-u-u-u-rvy, broken down old swab like me?”

“No,” Iona said firmly, shaking her head. “Foxy, that’s not true.”

Foxy looked up at the guard again. “Ho-o-o-ow can ye be so sure, la-a-a-ass?” he asked in the same gloomy tone. “Ye’ve only been back he-e-e-ere a few nights.”

Hesitating, Iona looked back to the other animatronics, who all stood right outside the entrance, staring in at the scene before them with sadness in their eyes. She turned back and looked up at the pirate again. “They miss you, Foxy. They want you back out there with them. They’re lost without you.”

“Wou-wou-wou-would they really-y-y-y want me back wi-i-i-ith them if they saw me like this, Iona-a-a-a?” asked Foxy.

“They don’t care about that,” Iona told him. “Besides, you can’t keep yourself hidden away back here forever. Your place is out there with the others, I’m telling you. The Fazbear family isn’t complete without you.”

His arms still crossed over his chest, Foxy turned his whole body away from Iona now, his eye closed yet again. “Aren’t ye asha-a-a-a-amed o’ me, lass?” he asked, his voice cracking even more as though he were about to cry, if indeed robots could do that. “That I, Foxy the Pi-i-i-i-irate, the bravest and fie-ie-ie-iercest terror of the high sea-ea-eas has been reduced to thi-i-i-is? A broken do-o-o-own, cowardly wre-e-e-etch who can’t even set foot out of ‘is own co-o-o-ove?”

“But, Foxy,” said Iona again. “You’re _not_ a coward. Being brave doesn’t mean not being scared of anything. It simply means having the strength to face those fears and the will to overcome them. How could you forget that? It was you who taught me that once after all, a long time ago. Remember, Foxy? One of the pirate stories you used to tell me and the other kids?”

Opening his eye, Foxy turned back to look at Iona. “Wh-wh-what about them?” he asked.

“There was that one that always stuck with me,” explained Iona. “That one with the pirate captain who battled against the great Kraken. You remember, right? The captain feared the Kraken so much because he had heard the legends so many times about how gigantic and ferocious it was and how many ships it had sunk, how many pirates and sailors it had washed away into the deep. And when the day finally came when the Kraken would attack his own ship, he was absolutely terrified, but he knew that he had to protect his ship, his treasure and his crew. So he overcame his fears and banded with his crew and together they fought the Kraken, never once backing down or giving up until the beast was defeated. In the end, the pirate captain had saved the day and it was all because he had the strength to face the very monster that he feared and the will to overcome that fear. Of all the stories you told us, that was always one of my favourites. I really, truly admired that captain, because he reminded me of _you_ , Foxy. To me, you were always that brave, strong captain and you still are. I know you have still it in you to face whatever fears are holding you back, are making you isolate yourself from your friends, and I know that if you really try, you _can_ overcome them.”

She held out a hand to him, which he just stared at in confusion.

“And I’m going to help you overcome them, Foxy,” she went on. “I want my jolly, energetic captain back, we all do, and I’m going to get him back. Which means I’m gonna help you find the strength to return to us. You just have to trust me, like I trusted you before. You have to believe in yourself, like the rest of us believe in you. Besides, a true pirate embraces his battle scars, he doesn’t try to hide them away from the world. A true pirate is brave, a true pirate faces his fears and overcomes any obstacles which stand in his way. You have to be brave, Foxy, just like the captain in that story. Just like that shanty said, we never forgot our old shipmate and we never will. We just want him back in the family, where he belongs. It doesn’t matter how many scars he has, how many parts of him are missing, how poorly he now works, he will always belong with his friends. You just have to have the courage and the strength to see that for yourself. Please come back to us, Foxy.”

As he listened, the pirate fox just stared at the young guard, eye and mouth both open wide in disbelief. Then his mouth closed with trembling movements like his lower jaw was struggling to lift itself and he stared back down at Iona with an emotional look in his eye.

“You-ou-ou are so ki-i-i-ind, Iona,” he said. “Ye were always such a-a-a-a good, kind lass and ye ‘ave said some thi-i-ings t’night that ‘ave moved me more than any shanty-y-y ever cou-ou-ould. So yes, of cou-ou-ou-ourse I trust ye, and of course I acce-e-e-ept yer help.”

With glitchy, jerking movements, Foxy reached his metal hand towards Iona who took it into her own, gripping her fingers around the steel palm.

“There’s a good fox,” she smiled at her friend. “Now, come on. Time you came out of there.”

Still holding the guard’s hand, Foxy took a few, clumsy steps forward until he stood right at the edge of his little stage. He hesitated and looked down towards the floor nervously.

“Come on, it’s okay,” Iona told him reassuringly, tugging on his hand a little to encourage him. “You can do this.”

Looking back up towards her, Foxy smiled and nodded. He looked back down towards the tiled floor and lifted one foot off the stage, his leg kicking forward slightly as his body was wracked with more glitches, and slowly lowered it to the floor. Then he did the same with the other foot.

“Good, that’s it,” said Iona softly. Loosening her grip on Foxy’s hand, she gestured to the main dining room outside. “Now, come on. Your friends are waiting.”

Hesitant, Foxy didn’t look at her. He just nodded after a brief pause and began to walk forward, his body still twitching as his broken systems still malfunctioned. Iona could tell he was nervous because he was walking very slowly and he had tightened his grip around her hand. But she could also see a look of determination in his one visible eye as he stared out towards the doorway in front of him, towards the three sets of eyes that stared back at him expectantly, eagerly.

Finally, they had both reached the doorway. Iona let go of Foxy’s metal hand and stepped back out into the dining room, followed instantly by the pirate fox himself. Foxy looked around at his friends, suddenly feeling exposed and wanting to just recoil and retreat back into his cove, but before he could, an ecstatic squeal from Chica finally broke the tense silence.

“IT’S FOXYYYYY!!!!!!” she cried with sheer joy as she rushed over to the fox and wrapped her bulky, yellow arms tightly around his slim, red body in an embrace.

Bonnie too ran up to the fox and wrapped an arm of his own around his friend’s shoulder. “Hey, man!” he said with a wide grin. “Great to have you back with us after all these years.”

Foxy laughed quietly to himself, clearly very relieved to have his friends welcome them back into their group like this. Then he looked towards Freddy who stood a little away from them, his arms folded and his mouth slightly opened in a smile. When Bonnie and Chica finally let him go, the fox stepped up to the bear and returned his smile.

“Welcome back, Foxy,” said Freddy, placing a large brown paw on the pirate’s shoulder.

Closing his eye, Foxy lowered his head. “Tha-a-a-ank you, Fre-e-e-eddy,” he replied, happiness evident in his voice despite the glitchy stammers.

“You see? I was right,” stated Iona, folding her arms in satisfaction. “Your friends never forgot about you, and they haven’t rejected you after seeing how you look now. In fact, they’ve seen past your scars, your disfigurements and have accepted you for the fox you truly are, the friend you always have been.”

“And in the end,” Bonnie added in. “Ain’t that what true friendship is all about? Seeing past any deformities, physical or mental, and embracing the person, animal or robot they are inside?”

“Exactly,” agreed Iona with a nod. “And all it took was for a brave, bold pirate like yourself to face his anxieties, his insecurities and overcome them, in order to see the truth for himself. And you did it, Foxy, just like I knew you could. In fact, I’m pretty sure I can speak for all of us when I say that we never doubted you for a second. You are a true hero, Foxy. Don’t you ever forget that.”

Turning back to face the guard, Foxy’s smile grew wider as he stepped towards her. Each step was still clumsy and glitchy, but none of that seemed to bother the fox anymore as he locked his eyes with Iona. 

“Tha-a-ank ye too, l-l-l-lass,” he said to her. “Ye he-e-elped me to face me fea-ea-ears and overcome me insecuriti-i-i-ies. It’s thanks to you-ou-ou, lass, that I do-o-o-n’t have to fee-ee-eel alone anymo-o-o-ore. Thanks to you-ou-ou-ou, I can fina-a-a-ally be with me friends agai-ai-ai-ain. Tha-a-a-anks to you, I feel j-j-j-just like me jolly old se-e-e-elf once more. Ho-o-o-ow can I e-e-ever repay ye?”

Blushing slightly, Iona just chuckled quietly. “Well, refraining from stuffing me into a suit would be thanks enough,” she grinned. 

This got a laugh from Foxy and the other animatronics, but then Iona looked back up at the fox, her expression slightly more serious this time, though she still smiled. 

“But all joking aside,” she said. “No, you really don’t need to do anything for me. I just couldn’t stand by and let one of the characters who once made me so happy shut himself away into a sad, lonely life of non-existence, you know. You guys brought so much joy and laughter to me and many other kids too, which is why you all deserve happiness yourselves, and that means you too, Foxy,” she finished with a wink.

“We-we-we-well, rest assured, la-a-a-ass,” Foxy began, still smiling back at the guard. “That wh-wh-what ye have done for me toni-i-i-ight will forever be appreciate-e-e-ed.”

“Whoo-hoo, and the gang’s all here!” cheered Bonnie, raising both fists into the air. “This calls for celebration!”

“Awesome!” piped Chica. “I’ll go cook some pizzas for the occasion!” And with that, the chicken practically skipped across the dining room towards the kitchen doors.

“Are you crazy, Chica?” Freddy called after her. “We try to eat that stuff and we’ll _all_ break down!”

But Chica didn’t seem to hear him as she pushed through the double doors and disappeared into the kitchen. Iona laughed quietly to herself then turned towards the other three. Freddy huffed and shook his head in what was clearly disapproval of Chica’s recklessness. Bonnie was already back at the stage, setting up his red guitar with the large speakers on either side. Foxy still stood where he was, his malfunctioning body still twitching but as he too watched the others around the dining room, but Iona couldn’t help but notice that he now looked so much happier than he did five minutes ago. 

And that made her happy too. Since her return to the pizzeria, she had noticed the feeling of incompleteness which came of Foxy being out of order while the others could still roam around the restaurant as freely as they wished. Though now that she was able to coax the fox out of hiding, she had made the Fazbear family complete once more, she had fitted in the missing piece of the puzzle. She and all her friends were finally back together after many years and it was then that she felt truly happy. And seeing that the rest of them were all truly happy themselves brought her even more joy.

Things had indeed looked a bit bleak when she first started working here in the restaurant, and now that she had returned, it seemed that things were finally starting to get better for everyone. Things at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza were starting to get back to normal and it was all thanks to her coming back. Because of her, the pizzeria started to feel more and more like it did when she came here as a child so many years ago. Nothing in the world could’ve made her feel happier or more satisfied in that moment.


	8. Chapter 7: The Killing Imperative

The following night, Iona stepped up to the pizzeria again, just a few minutes before midnight as per usual. It was strange, but for the first time that week, she felt completely calm. Completely at ease about her place of work. As she walked up the steps, she no longer felt scared, suspicious, nervous or uneasy. She no longer felt that she was in any danger. She was with friends here, friends she had known since she was a child, friends who she now knew for sure would not try to kill her, weren’t even trying to trick her into believing she was their friend. She had let her guard down completely and she felt good about it. She was no longer scared about being cornered by an army of killer robots; instead she was excited to see her friends again. She was safe and she knew it. So as she walked up to the door to the restaurant, she had a smile on her face.

Unlocking one of the two glass doors, she let herself in. Once she had locked the door behind her, she was surprised to see Bonnie already stepping off of the stage.

“Hey, you,” she said to him. “You’re a little early. I’ve only just turned up for work.”

“Yeah, well,” the rabbit answered with a shrug. “That was part of our routine for years, to become more active each night while we were still hunting down the other guards. We’re just kinda used to it by now, I guess.”

“Uh-huh…” Iona simply answered, nodding her head. “Well, I’m just gonna go dump my stuff in the office then I’ll be back through.”

“Yeah, sure,” she heard him reply after her as she turned and headed through the dining room. Walking down the corridor towards her office, she could already hear the grinding of gears from back on the stage as the rest of the animatronics were starting to wake up.

Once she reached her office, she hung her coat over the back of the swivel chair and was just about to turn to head back to the dining room where her friends were. She stopped when she heard the phone start to ring again. Although she wasn’t in any danger and therefore knew none of the advice that Phone Guy would give her tonight would be at all necessary to her, curiosity still made her stay where she was so she could hear what he had to say in this particular message.

“ _Hello, hello?_ ” called Phone Guy in his usual way. “ _Hey! Hey wow, day four! I knew you could do it._ ”

Blushing slightly at the compliment, Iona simply smiled and turned away for a second, but immediately turned back when she heard him continue.

“ _Uh, hey listen_ ,” he went on. “ _I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow._ ”

He had barely finished that sentence when a loud banging noise began in the background, which made Iona almost jump out of her skin. It sounded like a fist pounding against a large, iron panel. It sounded like… someone, or some _thing_ , was trying to get into the office!

“ _It’s… it’s been a bad night here… for me_ ,” Phone Guy continued hesitantly, the banging also persisting. “ _Um, I-I’m kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you… ahem… uh, when I did._ ”

“Wha…?” Iona breathed, realisation suddenly slowly beginning to creep into her mind. She knew there must have been some reason why she had not yet met this guy in person since she’d started working there. Why he only instructed her how to do her job and survive through these recorded messages of his. Why he no longer worked there. But, could it really be because he had been…? No, he couldn’t have.

“ _But hey, do me a favour_ ,” Phone Guy went on, the unease still in his voice as the banging continued. “ _Maybe sometime… you could check inside those suits… uh, in the back room?_ ”

“The back room?” Iona repeated to herself quietly. _Do you mean the storage room?_

“ _I’m gonna try and hold out… till someone… checks_ ,” he said, sounding as though he were trying to reassure himself that he would be alright. “ _M-maybe it won’t be so bad._ ”

_When were these recorded?_ she asked herself, wondering if indeed it would still be possible now to check inside the suits in the back room as he requested.

“ _Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads… back there._ ” This time, Phone Guy sounded as though he was trying to make a joke, as though he was trying to make light of his situation, just to try and make himself less afraid. Though it was evident to Iona that he had failed miserably.

Just then, the banging stopped, only to be replaced by the sound of Freddy’s music box, playing the “Toreador March” just as it had done on her first night.

“ _Oh, no…_ ” was the last thing Iona ever heard Phone Guy say before there was a high-pitched, blood-curdling screech that didn’t sound remotely human, which was loud enough to make Iona throw her hands over her ears and clench her eyes shut. But the noise was quickly replaced with static for a few seconds until the message finally clicked off, plunging the office once again in complete silence.

Seconds passed, but to Iona, it felt like minutes, before she dared to open her eyes and bring her hands down from her ears. All she could do then was just stand there in the middle of her office, staring towards the phone in utter shock. She knew now the reason for Phone Guy’s only speaking to her through the recorded messages, why she had never seen anyone who his voice had belonged to. He had worked there as a night guard before her, she knew that from day one. He knew about the animatronics walking around the restaurant at night and what they would try to do to anyone they saw in the building after midnight, he had warned her about it himself. But was that also why he took the time to record those messages for any future night guards? He had said he was finishing up his last week, but Iona only thought that meant he was retiring from the job. But… but had he too really fallen victim to the animatronics, like so many others before her? Did he know then that he was going to die? If so, then how long had he known?

_Why… why didn’t you just quit?_

“Iona?” a mechanical voice suddenly spoke, causing Iona to jump slightly, thus breaking her out of her stunned trance. She looked up to see Chica peering in at her through one of the office doorways, a look of concern in her violet eyes. “Iona? Are you alright?”

For a moment, all Iona could do was just stand and stare at the chicken. And yet, during that moment, she found that she could hardly bring herself to even look at the robot. One of the robots who she now knew had killed Phone Guy, had murdered him in cold blood. She heard it herself, with her own ears. Suddenly she found herself imagining being in his shoes. All alone in this little office, knowing that his time had now come, knowing that the animatronics had now finally outsmarted him and there was nothing he could do to about it, no one around to assist him or even hear his cries for help. All he’d be able to do was watch as these robots closed in around him for the kill, taking their sweet time, staring it him with those sinister sunken eyes, prolonging his final moments, making them all the more unbearable before finally finishing him off. And here was one of these robots right now, remaining outside her office instead of approaching her like a predator, not staring at her with animalistic murder in her eyes, but a concern that was almost uncannily human.

Again, Iona found herself struggling to decide which side of these animatronics was the real side. The murderous, bloodthirsty side of them which hunted and slaughtered night guards without prejudice or mercy, or the happy, friendly side of them which showed her nothing but love and kindness? These thoughts were beginning to mess with her brain again and it wasn’t until she could feel herself start to become dizzy that she quickly shook her head to dismiss the feeling.

“Uh… y-yeah,” she finally answered, turning her gaze away from Chica awkwardly. “I-I’m fine. Just had a bit of a… I’m fine, really?”

She turned and began to step towards the opposite door, not noticing Chica raising an eyebrow at her in disbelief.

“I’m just gonna… check something real quick,” Iona said quietly and walked out into the dark corridor before the robot standing behind her could make a reply.

She walked down the hallway and entered into the dining area, barely noticing, as she passed Pirate Cove, Foxy opening his curtains and stepping down from his stage with his clumsy, jerky movements. Bonnie was sitting up on the stage, strumming away on his guitar and Iona noticed that Freddy had left the stage too. She didn’t see where he was though, her eyes remained fixed upon her destination: the door to the storage room.

Finally reaching it, she just stood there for a second, reading the sign which read, “EMPLOYEES ONLY” near the top of the panel.

_Well technically, I_ am _an employee here after all_ , she thought to herself. _They can’t exactly kick my ass for coming in here._

Turning the handle, she opened the door slowly and stepped into the dark room. She took her flashlight from her belt and switched it on, aiming the beam of light around the room. It looked just the same as it had on the security cameras, with the shelves of spare animatronic heads, the bare endoskeleton seated upon the table in the middle of the room. But upon finally entering it, she was suddenly hit with a sense of déjà vu, like there was something familiar about it.

_Have I been in this room before?_

As she asked herself that question, her memories instantly gave her the answer. Yes, she _had_ been in this room before. Many years ago, when she was still a small child. This was the room where she and the five other children had been led, by the yellow rabbit carrying the birthday cake. This was the room where Freddy had taken her from. She had only been in here for a short while last time, but she was sure now that this was the same room where she was taken to on her last day here, eighteen years go. She could see it in her mind’s eye, as clearly as she could see it now. She and the other children standing near the doorway in anticipation, the main in the rabbit costume walking around in the opposite corner, as if looking for place to put the cake down.

_Why did he bring us back here? We were just customers and only employees are allowed in here, right?_

Finally remembering her task at hand, she continued with her exploration of the little room, flicking her flashlight beam here and there, in every little corner, every nook and cranny, but there was no trace of what she was looking for, no sign of Phone Guy, or indeed a suit that a person may have been stuffed into.

_What happened to him?_

Reluctantly giving up her search, she began to make her way towards the door again, but stopped just as something else caught her eye. She aimed her flashlight towards the back of the room and spotted a little door in the wall. Strange, she hadn’t noticed that before.

_I wonder…_

First she turned back, facing out towards the main dining area to make sure no one was watching her. She wasn’t sure why, but something told her she would be better off doing this without the animatronics knowing what she was up to. Seeing that the coast was clear, Bonnie seeming to be all too interested in playing his precious guitar, she turned back and, keeping both her eyes and the flashlight beam on it, began to slowly step up towards the door. Finally, she reached it, took hold of the metal knob and turned, but the door remained firmly in place, the only movements it made were slight jerks from the impact of her attempting to open it. It was locked. She then began to flick her flashlight over the floor and the shelves, wondering if she would find a key nearby.

“That door has been locked for years.”

Nearly jumping again at the voice which suddenly spoke behind her, Iona spun round and pointed her light towards the source. Freddy stood in the doorway, staring towards her with a serious, sombre expression in his eyes.

“No one’s ever been able to find the key,” he added.

There was a brief awkward pause before another thought came to Iona. “Do you know what’s back there?” she asked, gesturing to the small door behind her.

Turning his gaze away from her, Freddy closed his eyes and nodded slowly. “Something horrible,” he answered darkly.

Iona hesitated again, somewhat reluctant to ask her next question: “Is… _he_ … behind there, Freddy?”

Opening his eyes once more, Freddy turned his gaze back to the young night guard, this time in confusion. “He?”

“The guy on the phone,” answered Iona. “One of the past night guards you killed. Is his body behind that door?”

The look of sadness returned to Freddy’s eyes then, this time accompanied by remorse, and he let out a sad sigh as he shook his head. “No,” he said quietly, turning so he now had his back to her. “Those messages were recorded years ago. His remains are _long_ gone by now.”

Iona let out a sad sigh of her own as she lowered her eyes to the floor. “Why did you do it, Freddy?” she found herself asking him. “Why did you kill all those guards? They were innocent human beings, they never did you or the others any harm. Why did you kill them?”

“Not a night goes by I don’t ask myself that same question,” Freddy told her, his own eyes cast down towards the floor in shame. “All I know is… for so many years… I’ve just been so… angry.”

Iona looked back up towards the bear, though she wasn’t as surprised as she felt she should have been. In truth, she hated seeing this side of him. This sad, remorseful, bitter side of him. It wasn’t like him at all. This wasn’t how she remembered him from the days of her childhood. Back then, he was always so jolly and friendly, so loving to his audience, so much more vitally attached to the artificial life he had been granted by whoever had designed and built him, as if he had never seen or experienced a bad thing in it. Anger, hatred, bloodlust, regret and sadness seemed to be the very emotions she was so sure he could never be capable of. He had always radiated nothing but pure joy and geniality that the thought never even once crossed her mind, and yet here he was, confessing all his crimes and sins to her as if to a priest. To her, it all just seemed so out of character for him.

“You really aren’t the same Freddy Fazbear I remember anymore, are you?” she said sorrowfully.

There was another brief pause before Freddy finally replied, “Regrettably… no, I’m not.” Then, turning back to look at the guard once more, his eyes had gotten softer, but with a hint of seriousness in them too. “But that’s just all the more reason for me not harm _you_ in any way.”

Without waiting for another reaction from her, the bear turned and walked away from the door, back out into the dining room. For a moment, all Iona could do was just stand where she was in utter silence. She was so unsure how to feel about all of this. Should she have been angry with the robots for killing all those night guards without motivation, or should she haven taken pity on them for being so angry themselves about some unknown atrocity and therefore forgive them? Could that really justify everything they had done over the years? 

Once again, she felt as though her whole world was being turned and warped as what she once assumed to be the purest and most innocent place on earth was now beginning to reveal to her all its darkest and most corrupt secrets. She felt as though knowing all these horrible truths as an adult was the very thing that would take her own childish innocence away from her once and for all. A precious part of her childhood seemed to have been tainted and could never be purified again, like a dark stain that could never be washed out. But why? How could such a thing even happen?

Finally willing her mind back to reality, Iona walked across the little room and back out into the main dining area, where she found the other three animatronics, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, all standing together and staring in her direction. She saw in their eyes the same awkward guilt they had possessed when she confronted them on her second night. They must have heard her conversation with Freddy just now.

Slowly, Iona walked up to them, keeping her eyes fixed on them as she approached. “Hey, guys,” she said, her tone soft but serious. “Do you _really_ not know why you went around killing security guards all these years?”

As one, the three robots all shook their heads apologetically. “No, we don’t,” answered Bonnie. “Sorry.”

“Please don’t tell him we told you this, but…” Chica began, gesturing for Iona to come closer to her. She did and Chica pointed in Freddy’s direction, lowering her voice as she added, “ _He_ told us to do it.”

Iona just looked at her in disbelief. “Freddy made you guys do it?”

The robots all nodded.

“Why didn’t you refuse?” asked Iona again.

“We-we-we-we wanted to, la-a-a-ass,” Foxy managed to get out despite his glitchy stutters. “Bu-u-u-ut ‘e had su-u-u-uch a cold, ha-ha-ha-hard, demon-n-n-n-nic look in ‘is e-e-e-eyes as he gave us our o-o-o-orders that we were afrai-ai-ai-ai-aid t’even question ‘im.”

Iona just stared at the fox, again in shock. “You were afraid he’d harm you all too?”

No one said a thing, but the brief silence that hung in the air between them confirmed what the guard had feared. First murdering security guards, and now the possible threat that he’d harm even his own friends should they disobey him? Were there really no depths to which Freddy wouldn’t sink? Freddy Fazbear, who she had once believed to be the kindest and most innocent bear in existence, who at first seemed he could never hurt a single human being or creature? She really just couldn’t believe everything she had been hearing these past few nights.

“But don’t be mad at him for forcing us to do it, Iona?” Bonnie told her softly, as if reading her thoughts. “You heard him say so yourself. He doesn’t know why he did it either.”

Iona looked at him. “You really believe that?” she asked him.

“We’ve been Freddy’s friends since the very beginning,” Chica told her. “We know him better than we know anyone else, of course we believe him. I really don’t think he knows his own motivations any more than we do.”

Iona just looked down towards the floor again. “He did it because he was angry,” she muttered under her breath.

Looking back up towards the bear, who now stood in one of the far corners of the room with his back turned to them, thankfully seeming unresponsive to their conversation, Iona thought more about what he had told her. Yes, it _was_ because he was angry, she believed that. It must have had something to do with that mysterious incident which occurred here eighteen years ago. That must have been the thing he was angry about. Angry that it had happened, angry at whoever was responsible and possibly angry at himself for not being able to prevent it. And being a robot built for this pizzeria, a mascot that belonged inside this restaurant and nowhere else, unable to venture out into the world outside, forced to put on a cheerful, friendly smile for the kids every day? Perhaps killing the night guards, the only people who were allowed inside the building at night after closing hours, was all he had, the only way he could vent all his anger and frustration out. Each night, he must have thought it would at least make him feel better, calmer, but she could see now that it never did. All it did was make his anger and frustration worse, from the guilt of his own monstrous actions, another reason to be angry with himself. Yet, he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from doing it, he would need to kill again, hoping to satisfy his anger, to calm all the rage inside, but it never did, just made him feel worse. For so many years, poor old Freddy had been caught in a vicious, never-ending cycle of anger, murder, guilt and more anger, nothing ever seeming to be able to break him from it. And very likely all because of what might have been the horrible deeds of another individual, possibly someone darker and more sinister even than himself.

_Oh, Freddy. What was it that happened here? What could possibly have caused you to change this way?_


	9. Chapter 8: The Awful Truth

Once again, Iona had been unable to catch any sleep upon her return home. Try as she would, she could not get the shocking discovery she’d made on her last shift out of her mind. Learning what had become of Phone Guy, not just knowing that the animatronics had murdered him, but also _hearing_ it in that recorded message. His final words of “Oh, no…”, the sharp, metallic clang of Freddy’s music box as he closed in on him, then the robotic screech she heard at the end. She had heard the mascots’ battle cry, the sound they made when they captured their prey, and she hated how it sounded. It was unlike any scream she had ever heard before, a demonic high-pitched sound which seemed to replay itself over and over again in her mind, chilling her to the bone with every loop. It sounded so different to the default voices they spoke in. No longer humanoid and friendly, but evil and animalistic. She didn’t see their murderous side, but simply hearing it was enough keep her awake for hours.

Yet, how _had_ they become so different? What was it that could’ve turned such sweet, friendly creatures into vicious, bloodthirsty monsters at night? She tried to remind herself that despite it all, they were still _her_ friends at least, but she still didn’t completely understand what had triggered such a change to come over them. 

_Freddy told them to do it because he was angry._

Angry at what? Angry with who? What was it that had happened there all those years ago? What happened to those five children? Who was that man who wore the yellow rabbit costume? Was he responsible for this mysterious event? If so, then what did he do to those children?

They were linked somehow, the mysterious incident and the animatronics’ nocturnal hunt for security guards. She didn’t know it for sure, but it was a gut feeling she had, something which, in her experience, always seemed to turn out to be true. That _must_ have been the cause of Freddy’s anger, the very thing that had caused him to change the way he did. Change from the happy, kind and polite bear she knew as a child to a ferocious, unstoppable killing machine, then to the sad, bitter, remorseful creature she saw him as now.

But what was it that had happened? She still didn’t know, and she was tired of not knowing. She felt that if she had to endure another day of not knowing the answer she wanted, she would surely go insane herself.

After many hours of just laying in her bed, flat on her back and staring up at the almost smooth painted ceiling, racking her brains with questions she still did not have the answers to, unbelievable truths about her friends and unpleasant sounds which continued to haunt her thoughts, she finally gave in. She accepted that this was to be another sleepless twenty-four hours. Reluctantly, she whipped the covers off her, stood from her bed and stepped out of her room.

She did not immediately go to the bathroom as she normally did every morning. Instead, she walked across the living room, her hair still tangled and frizzy from having not been combed, and headed straight for one of the bookcases, where she picked out a photo album from the bottom shelf. Taking it over to the couch, she sat down and proceeded to flick through some of the pictures that were inside, unsure what had possessed her to do so in the first place or if she would find anything in there that would give her any clues.

All the photos seemed to depict moments from Iona’s childhood, starting from the very day she was born. She saw her mother, much younger and with her hair cut shorter than it was now, lying in what looked like a hospital bed, smiling brightly towards the camera as she cradled a newborn baby in her arms. The infant was wrapped from head to toe in a snow white knitted woollen blanket, only its little pink face was showing through, eyes closed as if asleep. Iona looked at the date in one of the bottom corners. 19th April 1980, the exact date of her birth.

Another photograph showed a similar image, only this time her mother was seated on a blue couch in what must’ve been her family’s old home back in Scotland. Whilst little Iona was asleep as ever in her mother’s arms, wrapped up like a burrito in that same blanket, her mother was smiling proudly and next to her sat her big sister, just a toddler then, grinning widely up towards the camera. This picture must have been taken by her father, she knew because not only was he himself not in the picture, but that telltale peach-coloured smudge could be seen in one of the top corners. Iona laughed quietly as she shook her head. That smudge happened to be her father’s thumb and it appeared in a lot of the photographs as she remembered; he never knew how to properly hold a camera when taking a picture.

Turning the page, Iona came across photos of herself as a toddler and her sister as an older child. There was a winter scene, of Iona, her sister and her father all standing around a snowman they had built together in the back garden. Iona quickly averted her eyes from this particular picture, embarrassed at how ridiculous her younger self looked in that turquoise jacket and baby pink pompom hat, resembling a little garden gnome. There was a picture of her at the beach, standing ankle-deep in the clear water and wearing a dark blue swimming costume with the image of a large yellow flower printed on the front, as she held a pink plastic bucket in one hand and a little purple spade in the other. There was one of her sister at five years old, sitting next to their father on a bench in some woodland area. One of she and her sister standing behind a miniature puppet theatre that was painted a dark red colour, both without any hand puppets, grinning wildly through the stage towards the camera.

Iona flicked through a few more pages, stopping to look some of her old family photos as she did, until she finally stopped. She was now looking at a photograph that had obviously been taken at none other than Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Iona, only five years old in the picture, her hair slightly messier than it was now, stood with hands clasped in front of her, wearing what looked like a white cotton dress and a magenta woollen cardigan, and smiled widely towards the camera, showing a couple of gaps in her teeth. Knelt behind her was Freddy Fazbear himself with his mouth wide open in what looked like a bright smile, blue eyes staring straight into the camera. One paw was placed on Iona’s shoulder and the other was held up with fingers apart as if waving. 

Taking the photo out of its film pocket, Iona turned it and on the back, in a child’s large, scribbly writing were the words, “My first day at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza”. She smiled at that. Memories of her first day at the pizzeria started coming back to her. Stepping into the restaurant for the first time, eyes looking around the main dining room in wonder, at all the decorations on the tables and hanging from the ceiling, all the pictures on the walls. Seeing the three animatronics up on that stage for the first time, immediately fascinated by their jerky, robotic movements as they danced and sang to the music. Walking up to the stage, unable to take her gaze away from them, just as the song was finishing, their glassy eyes moving down towards her. Freddy’s mouth opening slightly into a warm and welcoming smile when he saw her, evidently pleased at seeing a newcomer. Watching mesmerised as he stepped off the stage and knelt down to her height, asking her what her name was. Feeling her cheeks grow hot and finding herself looking away, unable to speak, overcome with a sudden shyness, unable to believe that this bear was _really talking to her_. Her mother answering her name on her behalf, Freddy saying that it was a pretty nam and herself giggling at the compliment. It hadn’t taken Iona long at all to fall in love with that place, especially with its friendly animatronic mascots.

Happy though these memories were, Iona suddenly felt a pang of sadness as she remembered what things there were like now.

_You really aren’t the same Freddy Fazbear I remember anymore, are you?_

Looking back at Freddy in the photograph, she couldn’t help but feel she that was now staring at a completely different bear altogether. Back then, Freddy had seemed so happy. He was always so friendly, so polite, with the demeanour of a gentleman’s. Never once giving the impression that he was capable of even so much as hurting a fly. Now he seemed sad, and a little bit grumpy too. He had a much more serious air about him. No longer filled with happiness, innocence and warmth as she remembered him. Now there was only bitterness, guilt and sadness. He had murdered people and was filled with nothing but remorse because of it. A drastic and extremely upsetting change had come over him and it was all because of some horrific disaster that had occurred at his pizzeria, one he had possibly been powerless to prevent. As a result, he had been driven into some kind of dangerous madness which saw him taking the lives of so many innocent workers there since. To say nothing of the obvious stain the incident had left on his restaurant, the bad connotations it must’ve now held for people. It had corrupted his restaurant and so corrupted _him_. And he knew it himself. The disaster and everything else, the way it had changed him and the monstrous things it had made him do, all of that was what had made him so sad and angry.

But she still didn’t know what that disaster was!

Frustrated, she snapped the photo album shut in one hand, still holding the picture of Freddy Fazbear and herself in the other. She had had enough of this. She was fed up not knowing what had happened there, especially since she knew now that it had almost happened to her and what it had done to the restaurant, to its beloved mascots. Tired of not knowing what could have tarnished the once popular and successful restaurant, leaving behind a shadow of bankruptcy hanging over its roof like the sword that hung over Damocles’ head. Not knowing what had caused its precious, cheerful mascots to become the killing machines they were now. She had to know, just _had_ to know what had caused such a dark shroud to come over what had once been a place of fun, happiness and friendship, turning it into a place of death, violence and misery. Perhaps, she thought now, that discovering the truth might hopefully be the first step in restoring the pizzeria to the safe, happy place it once was, the way should be. 

Despite everything they had done, the animatronics were still her friends, but even if they weren’t, even if they wanted to kill her too, that still wouldn’t have deterred her from continuing to work there if it meant bringing her closer to solving the mystery. Despite what her family would think, despite her mother’s pleas to quit, her father’s lecturing, her sister calmly trying to persuade her to find a job elsewhere, nothing could’ve moved her at that point. She had to know what had happened there, because it hurt and angered her to know that, whatever it was, it had tainted a place that held such precious childhood memories for her. Even if it were to take her a hundred years, she was going to find out the truth for herself and nothing in the world, no disapproving relative, no killer robot, was going to stop her.

~

Despite the shocking discovery she had made on her previous shift, Iona was in a good mood as she stepped up to the pizzeria doors again that night. It was her fifth night, after which she would get her pay check from Lenny and then she’d have the weekend off before starting her second week at Freddy’s. It wasn’t that she wasn’t enjoying working there. She loved it there of course, any job where she could basically just hang out with her best friends all night, she thought, was the best job anyone could ever hope for. Though at the same time, a couple of nights to herself would’ve been quite nice too, especially if it meant a break from all the doom and gloom that appeared to be happening there now.

Reaching the pizzeria’s main entrance, she unlocked one of the glass doors and slipped inside.

“Hi, Iona!” she beard Bonnie say behind her just as she was locking the door again.

Turning, she saw the three animatronics on the stage, already all awake and waving at her.

“Oh, hi, guys,” she replied, smiling as she slipped the keys into her pocket.

Bonnie stepped off the stage first and took a few steps towards her, closely followed by Chica.

“U-um, you’re not… still mad at us after last night, are you?” asked Chica hesitantly, a look of embarrassment in her violet eyes as she seemed to be cowering behind Bonnie a little.

Iona just looked at the chicken in surprise for a couple of seconds before her gaze softened and she shook her head. 

“No,” she answered reassuringly. “After my second night here, I’ve long since stopped being mad.” Looking towards Freddy, who had also now come off stage but was just staring into one of the far corners of the room, she looked back at the other two and lowered her voice. “And besides,” she went on, her voice barely above a whisper. “I understand now that maybe it wasn’t any of you guys’ fault after all.”

“Oh, phew!” Chica sighed in relief, running a yellow hand across her brow, even though, being a robot made entirely of metal, wires, plastic and artificial feathery material, she couldn’t produce any sweat to wipe from there in the first place.

“Well, we’d better let you get to work then,” said Bonnie, tilting his head in the direction towards the security office. “I highly doubt they’re paying you just to talk to us every night.”

Iona laughed at that. “Well, they _are_ paying me to look after you guys, that’s for sure,” she told him. “But you’re right, now that I’m here, I really should be getting to my office now. I’ll be back shortly.”

She turned and walked across the dining room.

“Hey, Foxy!” she called to the fox who she saw just stepping down from his own stage as she passed Pirate Cove.

“Hello-o-o-o, Ion-n-n-na!” she heard him call back to her as she walked up the corridor towards her office.

As she entered the small room, her eyes immediately went to the phone on the desk and she suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

_Oh, that’s right. I won’t be getting any more messages from you now, will I?_

It would’ve sounded strange when spoken aloud, a little bit silly even, but during her first few nights here, listening to all those messages seemed to Iona to give such a mundane, everyday object, such as a telephone, a bit of character, especially with that jaunty, upbeat voice. Knowing that she would now no longer be receiving any more messages from Phone Guy, the little machine looked somewhat empty and sad as it sat there next to her camera monitor. As dead as the man that had spoken to her through it.

_I did find him annoying at first, but now I actually kinda miss him already._

As usual, she hung her coat around the back of the swivel chair and picked up her camera monitor, deciding to quickly check the cameras before going back out to join her friends in the dining room. Though just as she had switched the monitor on, the phone started to ring. Iona looked up from the monitor and just stared at the phone in surprise and confusion. 

“What the…?”

Another ring.

_But he’s dead. He couldn’t possibly have left me another message surely. Not after the last one._

A final ring sounded from the phone but clicked off as the message began as usual. Iona wasn’t exactly sure who or what she had expected to hear in this one, but what she heard was definitely _not_ it. For the first few seconds, all she could hear was loud static, and then a deep, distorted voice began talking in a garbled speech. Try as she would, Iona could not seem to make out a single word that was being spoken as she listened. She wasn’t even sure if it was English, or indeed any other language she recognised for that matter. Though she found she was much more horrified by how deep the voice was. It sounded almost demonic, as if the phone had become possessed by the Devil himself.

This “message”, if indeed it could’ve been called that, seemed to last about twenty seconds, during which Iona could only stand and stare at the machine, eyes wide and mouth agape in horror, until the speech was interrupted by that same high-pitched robotic screech she had heard the night before. It cut on and off a few times, but it was enough to break Iona out of her horrified trance and bring her hands up to her ears again, still holding her camera monitor, until the message finally clicked off. Once again, the office was silent.

Bringing her hands back down from her ears, Iona just continued to stare down at the phone on her desk, unable to believe what she had just heard. Yet _what_ was that she heard? Or for that matter, _who_ was it? It couldn’t have been Phone Guy, he was dead. Besides, that voice didn’t sound remotely human.

_It can’t have been one of the animatronics, surely._

Remembering the monitor in her hand, Iona slowly raised it back up and looked down at the screen. Her arms were shaking a little, yet she was still to flick through the various cameras around the restaurant. So far, everything looked as it should have been. The animatronics were just milling around in the dining area, minding their own business instead of stalking through the halls in hunt for their next victim. However, when she finally viewed the East Hall Corner camera, something very out of the ordinary caught her eye. Looking closely at the camera, she squinted. Something was _very_ different about the wall in that corner. What she had seen there before was the rules list put up by management that the customers had to adhere to during their time within the restaurant. But now, in its place hung a completely different looking sheet of paper altogether. She tried to read what the words said, but through all that annoying static on the old, lousy camera, she couldn’t make them out.

“What the heck…?”

Putting the monitor back down on the desk, she walked out of the office and went into the corner. Sure enough, the mysterious new document was still hanging from the wall in place of the rules sheet, just as she had seen it on the camera. She didn’t approach right it away, she was too busy wondering how it could’ve gotten there in the first place. But then, she suddenly felt this strong sense of needing to read what it said. It wasn’t down to just mere curiosity or a gut feeling, she couldn’t quite make out what it was exactly. But it was something she thought she could almost feel in the restaurant’s atmosphere, as if she were being _called_ to the sheet of paper which now hung before her. As if the paper _itself_ was beckoning her, or maybe the very walls of the restaurant were urging her forward.

Iona wasn’t sure what it meant. She wasn’t even sure if what she was feeling was real or simply due to her own wild, limitless imagination, but the feeling quickly vanished the minute she decided to obey its calls, stepping forward, eyes fixed firmly on the paper, and removing it from the wall. Looking at it, she saw that it was a newspaper clipping, and the headlines read:

_**Kids vanish at local pizzeria - bodies not found.** _

_Five local children were reportedly lured into a back room at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza on the afternoon of June 23rd. The children have not been found and are now presumed dead._

_Police think that an employee had dressed as a company mascot to earn the children’s trust._

June 23rd. Wasn’t that Iona’s last day the pizzeria? June 23rd 1985? Wasn’t that the day that Freddy had suddenly sent her home, seemingly out of the blue? And weren’t there other five children with her that day? Then the man in the yellow rabbit costume…

Suddenly overcome with shock at the grim realisation, the news clipping quietly slipped out of Iona’s trembling fingers, swaying gracefully like a feather as it spiralled down to the tiled floor, landing gently at her feet. For a moment, all Iona could do was just stand and stare into space, as everything in her mind began to fall into place, all the questions that had been spinning around and around in her head for what felt like the longest time were finally answered all at once.

“No… It can’t be…”

Turning, she began to walk quickly, almost running, down the hallway towards where her friends were until something else on the wall caught her eye. In the very spot where she remembered a poster of Freddy should’ve been now hung yet another newspaper clipping. Instantly snatching it off the wall, she read the headlines and her eyes widened even more as she took in each and every word on the page:

_**Five children now reported missing.** _

_Five children are now linked to the incident at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where it is believed a man dressed as a cartoon mascot lured them into a back room. The bodies have still not been found._

_Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza has been fighting an uphill battle ever since to convince families to return to the pizzeria._

_“It’s a tragedy.”_

Still unable to believe what she had read, Iona began to breathe heavily, her heart pounded wildly in her chest and her head began to spin as she slowly raised her eyes from the paper in her hand. She just couldn’t believe it. She had figured of course that something terrible happened here in this restaurant the day Freddy sent her away, and that it may have had something to do with the five children she was with and the costumed man who had led them all into the back room. But never in a thousand years could she have imagined that it would’ve been something quite as horrifying as this.

_That explains everything…_

So this was what happened here eighteen years ago. This was why she had been sent home so suddenly. This was why her family had moved out of town so quickly. This was why Freddy’s had been doing so poorly financially in recent years. This was why her parents had refused to ever talk about this place again. This was what Lenny had been so reluctant to tell her about. This was why local families weren’t willing to bring their children here anymore. This was what Freddy had been angry about. This was why the animatronics had started roaming the halls at night, murdering security guards in a blind rage. _This_ was what Freddy had saved her from.

At long last, Iona had found the answer she was looking for. For days, it had been driving her to distraction not knowing what had happened at this restaurant, not understanding the full story behind its many dark and drastic changes. For days, it had been her strongest desire to find out the truth, but now that she had, she began to feel like she wished that she still didn’t know.

_Was I really the only one… who knew nothing about this? Even though it nearly happened to me too?_

Finally snapping out of her shocked stupor, Iona turned her gaze down the hallway to the main dining area, where she could hear the voices of her friends as they chatted away to each other. She thought she heard Bonnie make one of his bad jokes and then Chica laughing out loud in response. Still clutching the news clipping in her hand, she marched back down the corridor towards where her friends were.

Upon entering the dining room, she found them all sitting by the stage, seemingly lost in their amusing conversation. Bonnie was seated upon the stage, holding his guitar in both paws even though Iona hadn't heard him play a single note since she’d turned up for work. Chica sat next to him, a yellow hand over her beak to stifle her giggles, the other pressed against her abdomen. Freddy and Foxy both stood off to the side. Foxy had his tattered arms crossed over his torn chest and was laughing quietly at the funny anecdote Bonnie was now telling about something he saw this one crazy thing do at the restaurant some years ago. Even Freddy was seemed to be smiling, evidently amused by his friend’s story.

“Five children went missing here,” Iona suddenly found herself speaking out loud, abruptly interrupting her friends’ chatter. The robots all froze for a few seconds, their eyes widened until they all turned to face her. Still keeping her gaze upon the group, Iona added, “Am I right?”

The animatronics all looked at each other, horror and sadness could now been seen in their eyes. Then Freddy closed his eyes as he let out a deep sigh. “Yes, I’m afraid that’s true.”

“Why didn’t I know?” Iona asked again. “Why wouldn’t anyone talk about it? Why were they all hiding it? How could I have been the only one who didn’t know a thing about it all these years?”

“Nobody was hiding it, Iona?” Chica told her.

“It was just… too hard to talk about… you know?” Bonnie added in, shaking his head solemnly. “Something as horrible as that… you don’t really wanna relive it, do you? Besides, in case you’ve already forgotten, business here hasn’t been particularly great since then. Repeating such stories isn’t exactly gonna help us.”

“But I still don’t understand,” Iona went on. “It almost happened to me too, right?” 

She barely noticed Freddy looking back up to her just then.

“And yet my parents would never tell me about it either,” continued Iona. “For years, after we left, they refused to even talk about this place in general. But didn’t I have the right to know about it too? Especially since I could easily have been the _sixth_ missing child that day?”

“My-y-y-y-y guess is tha-a-a-at yer parents _especially-y-y-y_ didn’t wa-wa-wa-wa-want t’think about it ei-ei-ei-ei-either, lass,” stuttered Foxy. “Becau-au-au-au-ause they knew-ew-ew-ew just how clo-lo-lo-lo-lose it was to happeni-i-i-ing t’ye too-oo-oo-oo.”

“Also, you were only five years old then,” Chica offered. “Maybe they felt like you were too young to handle such disturbing news?”

“But what about after I grew up?” Iona asked again. “After I _wasn’t_ too young anymore?”

“Like Foxy said,” replied Bonnie. “Maybe they knew that they had almost lost you too and the thought was just so unbearable for them.”

Iona opened her mouth to ask if they knew what had happened to the children, but she stopped herself when the memories of that day instantly came back to her. The man in the yellow rabbit suit. He had done something to those children. He had kidnapped them, had lured them into that back room. But for what purpose exactly?

“It was horrible,” said Chica, slowly shaking her head. “All those little children disappearing like that. It was the most horrible thing I’d ever seen.”

“You saw for yourself, Chica,” Freddy told, turning and staring hard towards the storage room door. “They didn’t just disappear into thin air.”

Iona looked at Freddy just then. “Do you know what happened to them then?”

Turning back to face the guard, Freddy nodded his head in reply, the sadness still in his eyes. “I didn’t actually _see_ it happen, but I knew the danger they were in.” His gaze still on her, his expression grew more serious. “The danger that _you_ were in.”

Iona just froze at that moment, her eyes locked with the bear’s.

“I suppose you remember me taking you back to your parents that day?” he asked her. “Begging and pleading with them to take you home immediately?”

Iona nodded. “I’d never thought about it for years,” she told him. “But during the last few days since I’ve been working here, it all came back to me clear as glass.”

“I was rescuing you, Iona,” he told her. “And after you and your family had gone, I tried to save the other children too, we all did. But…” Turning his head away, his ears lowering and his blue eyes closing in shame, he sighed again. “But we were too late. When we got back to the storage room, they were all already gone. All that was left of them was the blood on the floor.”

“Blood…?” breathed Iona, feeling her heart filling up to the brim with horror with each passing second. “You mean… they’re dead?”

Freddy looked hard at her again. “Murdered,” he answered. “In cold blood.”

Iona gasped softly, bringing her hand up over her now gaping mouth. This whole thing was sounding more and more horrific by the minute. Bad enough that the children had disappeared, but _murdered_? She could hardly bring herself imagine how anyone could possibly do such a thing, and the very idea was making her feel sick to her stomach. And that it had almost happened to her too? It was all just so shocking and so unbelievable to her.

“And what makes it even worse,” Freddy went on. “Is that they’re still here.”

“What?” asked Iona, lowering her hand slightly.

“Their spirits,” answered Freddy. “Their souls have been imprisoned here against their will. They’re trapped here, with no hope of escaping.” He turned away from her, wrapping his arms around himself and shuddered as if he suddenly felt cold. “I still hear them sometimes, hear them crying. Crying for their mothers, wailing that they want to go home, that they’re scared. It haunts me.”

For a moment, Iona was once again left speechless. Children going missing in this pizzeria? Having been murdered by a man who had lured them to the back room wearing a character costume? Their tormented spirits apparently still haunting the restaurant? That part was what had surprised Iona the most. All her life, she had never really been one to believe in ghosts, but now Freddy was telling her he could still hear them crying and calling for their parents. She had not heard anything like that herself since she’d started working there, but after everything she had seen and heard these past five nights, she began to wonder, much to her won surprise.

“You said…” Iona began. “You knew the danger they were in. The danger _I_ was in. Do you know who it was that did it then?”

Knowing that the question was directed at him, Freddy turned to face Iona again and nodded.

“Who was it, Freddy?” she asked him again.

Again, Freddy turned his gaze away and shook his head. “Does it even matter now?”

“What!?” Iona just about shouted, her accent beginning to revert back from American to Scottish, though her dialect was not quite as strong as the last time, as she marched up to the bear. “How can you even _say_ that, Freddy!? That maniac could still be out there! What if he does it again? If you’d tell me who it was, I can go to the police about it, you know?”

“The police had already made investigations here,” Freddy answered, walking past her. “But he was too clever for them. Somehow, he had managed to avoid detection completely. What would be the use in going to them again? Apart from us robots, there are no real witnesses to the crime.”

Iona turned round so that she faced him again. “But _I’m_ a witness!” she pointed out. “After all, I was almost killed by that creep too, wasn’t I? I was there when it happened!”

Freddy stopped and turned back to her again. “Yes, but _you_ didn’t see it happen either,” he reminded her. “You didn’t see what he did to them. You didn’t even see his face. He was in a costume, remember? He wore a cunning disguise so that no one would ever suspect it was him.”

He turned back to face one of the dark corners of the room.

“Even if I did tell you his name,” he continued. “And you went to the police about it, telling them that only the animatronics at Freddy Fazbear’s had told you, or indeed if you _didn’t_ tell them who told you they’d never believe you. They’d just assume you were playing some kind of tasteless prank or something.”

“Do you honestly think I care about that, Freddy?” Iona protested. “Because no, I don’t! I really couldn’t give two shits what people think about me. I’d still be able to live in peace, knowing that I had at least _tried_ to do what was right.”

“It just wouldn’t work, Iona,” Freddy insisted. Turning to face her again, he went on, “Nobody ever found out who it was. Nobody, not even us, knows where he is, whether or not he still even lives here or not. He’s never been back to this pizzeria since he committed that horrible crime, so no one knows if he’s even still alive or not. And besides, even if the cops did find him and question him about it, he’d flat out deny it. I know he would, because people like him are cowardly enough, he’d never confess to it. Even if he was arrested, without any real evidence against him, they’d eventually have to let him go. I’m telling you, Iona, you’d be wasting your time.”

Walking up to the bear again, Iona persisted, “But there must be something I can do, surely! I can’t just stay silent about this, Freddy! We can’t give up on it just like that! We can’t let him get away with it! People have to know! Those kids’ families, they have to know what happened to them, who it was, what he did to them! One way or another, he has to answer for it!”

“That’s enough!” Freddy just about snapped, turning so he was completely facing her now. “Just forget about it, Iona!”

Iona jumped slightly, taken aback by Freddy’s sudden outburst. When she was still a child, Freddy had never once raised his voice to her before, and now that he had, even as an adult, she found it somewhat disconcerting. 

Seeing the guard’s surprised and slightly hurt expression, Freddy’s eyes instantly softened and he turned away, suddenly ashamed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” he apologised. Turning back, he stared intently into her eyes once more as he added, “But please, don’t think that I don’t care about it anymore, of course I do. Believe me, I’m just as angry about it as you are. I want justice for those kids as much as you do. And I admire your determination to get that justice, I really do, especially since you were almost one of them. But, as I’m sure you’re aware, the world is a very unjust and altogether very unfair place. Yes, justice should punish the guilty, but it should also protect the innocent.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Iona asked, her tone softer and her accent back to normal, though there was still a hint of anger in her voice. Not at Freddy, but at the obvious injustice that this crime had been dealt, the very injustice that Freddy was speaking of.

“It means,” Freddy began to explain. “That those that are guilty sometimes get away with terrible things. That’s the price we pay. Innocent until proven guilty, that’s just how it works. I know it’s not fair, especially since I know who it was that had killed those children, the _only_ one who knows, but that’s just the world we live in, and there’s nothing you or I or anybody else can do about it. I’m sorry.”

With that, he turned and began to walk away again.

“Is that why you’ve been so angry all these years?” Iona suddenly asked him.

Freddy stopped again and stood still, taking a moment to ponder Iona’s question before nodding, without turning back to face her again. “For a long time, I’d never been able to put my finger on it,” he answered her. “But now that you mention it, yes, I guess that is part of it.”

Without waiting for a response, Freddy continued walking. Iona let him go this time, watching as he disappeared into the darkness of the east hallway, the sounds of his heavy footsteps still echoing off the walls.

_Only part of it?_

Of course it was. Like he said, Freddy wanted justice for those children too. However, being a mere restaurant mascot, he had been unable to help get that justice for them. As much as Iona hated to admit it, he was right. Even if he had tried to tell the police that he saw who it was that did it, they’d never believe the words of a robot. They’d probably think he was malfunctioning or something, another reason for the restaurant owners to fear instant shutdown. Not only that, but he had tried to save them, but had sadly been unable to. 

She was right then. This was what had caused Freddy to change, what had made him angry. Angry with the world and all the evil, cruelty and injustice in it. Maybe angry at himself also, not only for failing to prevent the crime, but for being unable to avenge it too. No wonder he went on an eighteen-year killing spree, she thought. Feeling useless, feeling like he had failed in carrying out a task of the most urgent importance. Had that been her, she suddenly felt that maybe that would’ve turned her monstrous too. If not self-destructive.

Suddenly, she heard more footsteps approaching from behind her, but instead of turning to face the source, she lowered her eyes to the floor.

“He’s right, Iona,” Bonnie said softly behind her. “What’s done is done, and there’s nothing that can change that.”

Iona shook her head. “I still can’t believe it…” she breathed. “It’s just too awful. How could anyone do something like that? To a bunch of innocent children? And in a place where they should’ve felt safe too.”

“Unfortunately it’s places like this,” Chica began. “Where those that target children are lured. Anywhere where there’s gonna be plenty of kids about, family restaurants, arcades, amusement parks, schools and kindergartens, they’re drawn to such places like magnets.”

“That’s just sick,” muttered Iona again. “I just wish there was something I could do, even if it did happen as long as a couple of decades ago.”

“There be no-no-no-nothin’ that can be do-o-o-one about it, la-a-a-a-ass,” grumbled Foxy. “A-a-a-a-all we can do i-i-i-i-is hope that it ne-e-e-e-ever happens agai-ai-ai-ain.”

Iona just let out big sigh and brought a hand up over her eyes, trying to fight back shocked and angry tears that threatened fall from them. She still couldn’t believe it, that something truly horrible had happened here at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, at her favourite childhood haunt. That someone had lured children away, cleverly disguised in a character costume, brutally murdered them and hid their bodies away, never to be found. Worse still, that it had almost happened to her too, and for so many years, she had no idea.

“But I guess that’s why _you’re_ here, isn’t it?” said Chica.

Iona turned to face the chicken, confused. “What?”

“You’re a security guard, aren’t you?” the bird answered. “It’s your job to make sure nothing like that does happen again.”

“And yet you were the ones that went around killing them all,” Iona reminded her.

“But we told you, Iona, we didn’t want to,” said Bonnie. “Freddy made us do it, and he doesn’t exactly feel good about it either.”

Iona nodded, giving the rabbit a lopsided smile. “I know, Bonnie,” she told him. “I guess, when something bad like that happens, it can cause a chain reaction of other things bad things to happen at the same place. And sometimes, those other bad things don’t make sense. I don’t know.”

“I guess you’re right,” said Chica.

Looking down, Iona realised she still held the newspaper clipping in her hand. She gripped it tightly, her fist beginning to tremble. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t right that those children had been killed, been taken away from their families so suddenly and so brutally. Not while the very man who took their lives was still roaming free out there somewhere, his sinister crimes having gone unpunished.

_What if he does it again? People have to know. He has to answer for it._

Inside, she made a promise to the children. A promise that no matter what, she would find out who did it. Even if going to the police was as pointless as Freddy said it was, she would still find out. She would hunt their killer down, predator would become prey. She would find him and see him behind bars where he belonged. She would search each corner of the world if she had to, and no matter what, she would do everything in her power to bring that monster to justice, to see to it that he would never get away with what he did.

This was her promise to the five missing children. As the sixth one, the one who had escaped and had survived unscathed, this was what she owed them.


	10. Chapter 9: The Old Suits

Lenny’s car pulled up in the parking lot at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. It was almost 7:00 am and the sun had just started to peak over the horizon, having already turned night into day. He got out of his car, shivering a little at the slight chill of the morning despite it being summer, and locked the door before walking up to the pizzeria’s entrance. 

Outwardly, he was always cheerful and friendly, especially towards his customers and employees. Inside, however, he felt utterly miserable, and it was only when he was alone that he let his cheery facade drop. He really was not looking forward to another long day of sitting in that little office, in a restaurant where virtually no one ever visited anymore. He had been managing this place for years and he was growing tired of it. It wasn’t making him much in the way of money and he just felt like the whole thing was pointless. The only reason he kept up with it was because of the tiny glimmer of hope in him that things would eventually get better. That people would soon forget the bad memories from a time long ago and decide to bring their families here in droves again, bringing back to it the happiness and excitement it was supposed to bring them.

Taking the keys out of his coat pocket, he unlocked one of the glass doors and went inside. He locked the door behind him and flicked on the light switch, flooding the dark dining room with bright light from the florescent bulbs which shone from the ceiling. He walked round the tables, passing the stage where the three main animatronics stood in their standard positions as they stared blankly ahead, and headed down the east corridor towards his office. He immediately spotted Iona, his newest night guard, standing by the door. She was leaning against the wall, her coat hung loosely from her folded arms as she seemed to be staring down towards the floor, looking as though she was far away with her thoughts.

He smiled brightly when he saw her. “Ah, Iona!” he called cheerfully to her.

Alerted to his presence, the guard looked up, in the direction of his voice, and smiled when she saw him. “Hi, Lenny!” she called back to him.

“You’ll be waiting for your pay check, I suppose,” he said as he stepped up to his office door, slipping the key into the lock.

“Yes, that’s right,” she answered with a nod. “You told me just to wait around after I’d finished my shift, remember?”

“Yes, I remember,” replied Lenny as he opened the door. Tilting his head to the side, he said, “Come on in.”

Iona did as she was told, following her boss into his office and stood behind the two front chairs while Lenny sat down by his desk. The jangling of his keys could still be heard and Iona guessed he was about to unlock one of his drawers, where she supposed her pay check was being kept.

“I know what happened here eighteen years ago,” she said suddenly, taking herself a little by surprise. 

Lenny stopped short and looked up at the guard, his own surprise showing on his face. “Oh…” he said sadly. “Is that right…?” He went straight back to the task at hand, opening the now unlocked drawer.

“Five children were reported missing here,” she stated. “Their bodies were never recovered.”

“If you could refrain from speaking about that outside this restaurant,” he requested, not looking up this time from rummaging through the paperwork in the drawer in search of Iona’s pay check. “We have a hard enough time as it is trying to convince people to bring their children back here anymore. And besides…” He looked up again, his eyes a bit more serious. “It’s not really something any of us like to think about.”

Iona just stared at the manager for a couple of seconds.

 _But it’s the exact reason this place doesn’t do so well anymore_ , she thought. _You probably can’t_ help _but think about it, right?_

She didn’t say it out loud. Instead, she just gave a small smile and nodded in understanding.

“Alright,” she said. “I won’t mention it to anyone.”

“Thank you,” answered Lenny before turning his attention back to his drawer. “Now, where did I put that pay check…? Ah! Here it is!”

He took out a small slip of paper and handed it to her.

“Thank you,” Iona said as she took it off him.

“So how are you liking your new job anyway?” Lenny asked her, leaning forward on his desk with his hands clasped together.

“Yeah, I like it a lot, it’s great fun,” Iona answered, smiling. “You didn’t tell me that the animatronics moved around at night.”

Lenny laughed a little awkwardly. “Yeah, I’m afraid we have to let them do that these days,” he told her, scratching the back of his head. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard of the Bite of ’87?”

Iona nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it,” she said. “Someone got attacked by one of them and lost their frontal lobe, right?”

“Yeah…” he said, a hint of a cringe on his face, as if wishing the guard hadn’t decided to go into such explicit detail about it. “Since then, company policy has forbidden us from letting them walk around during the day anymore. Health and safety, you know. Unfortunately though, switching them off overnight tends to cause their servomotors to lock up. They break down basically and repairs cost money, something we don’t make a lot of these days, so our only other option is to leave them in their free-roaming mode during the night.”

As she listened, Iona just nodded her head politely and occasionally responded with, “Mm-hm.”. She had already heard this information before on her first night, though she didn’t think it necessary to say so.

“Uh, they don’t… bother you in any way, do they?” asked Lenny, a little nervously.

“Hm? Oh no, not at all,” Iona told him, shaking her head. “In fact, if anything, it’s kinda fun to watch them walking around the restaurant on the security cameras. Adds a bit of entertainment to what would otherwise be a rather boring job.” 

Lenny chuckled softly. “Well, that’s good,” he said. “As long as you’re enjoying it, that’s the main thing. I take it I can expect you to come back to work a second week?”

“Yep, definitely!” replied Iona, nodding enthusiastically.

“Excellent!” chirped Lenny. “You’ll be the first night guard in eighteen years to have worked more than one week here.”

“Oh, is that right?” asked Iona.

“Yeah,” answered Lenny, slightly less chipper. “All the others before you left before finishing their first week. I guess they weren’t too keen on the idea of working in an environment with robots that could move around on their own.”

Iona just laughed quietly. She wasn’t sure if it was worth mentioning the truth about what was _really_ happening to the other night guards. 

_Does he secretly know himself? And is just too uneasy to mention it? No, probably not._

“In that case, do I get a prize for making it through my first five nights?” she asked jokingly.

Lenny chuckled again. “No, just that measly pay check, I’m afraid,” he answered, smiling. “But hey, maybe if you continue to work with us long enough, eventually you might be able to afford to treat yourself to something awesome.” He finished that last sentence with a wink.

Iona smiled back at him. “I’m sure I’ll think of something when that time comes,” she said. “Anyway, I better get off home now.”

Lenny nodded in agreement. “Yes, I think you better had. You look kinda tired,” he commented, just noticing the faint shadows under her eyes.

Iona gave a lopsided smile. “Yeah, well… It’s been a long week.”

“The first week usually is,” Lenny said in understanding. “But once you get used to it, the weeks will soon pass in the blink of an eye.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they will,” replied Iona, nodding. “Well, I’m off. Bye, Lenny,” she said, turning and making her way to the door.

“Bye, Iona,” Lenny called after her as she left his office. “See you next week! Enjoy your weekend off!”

As she walked down the corridor, Iona glanced down at the pay check in her hand. $120 a week, not the best pay she’d ever had, but she hoped it would be enough to pay her rent at least. If not, she wondered if she’d be able to get extra for working overtime if need be. Then again, knowing the restaurant’s financial situation, she wasn’t willing to get her hopes up.

Upon entering the main dining room, she walked round the tables towards the stage, looking up at the animatronics that now stood motionless in their usual poses.

“See ya, guys,” she said quietly, wondering if her friends could still hear her even after they’d powered down for the night, as she passed them towards the front entrance. Taking her keys from her pocket, she unlocked the door and stepped outside. She then locked them again behind her, trusting that Lenny would unlock them again himself come opening time, and walked down the front steps to the sidewalk.

Before heading home however, she stopped and turned to glance back at the pizzeria, up at the sign above the doors with the four smiling, brightly-coloured cartoon animals. She sighed and shook her head; she still couldn’t believe what she had just learned. Since she was a child, this restaurant had always seemed the happiest and safest place in the world. And yet, eighteen years ago, five children had gone missing here, murdered in fact. Lured away and slaughtered like lambs by someone who worked there.

For a long time, she had been completely aware of the fact that people put their lives at risk every day, simply by setting foot out their doors, but she had taken that completely for granted until now. If anything was to be proven by the tragic story she’d heard last night, it was that no matter how safe one felt, even within a familiar environment, danger could still strike at any moment. Especially when they least expect it, once they’d let their guard down.

_Even in a place like this, one must always watch their children at all times._

She read the words, “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza” just above the doors, and that alone would’ve been proof enough that this was the same place she’d loved as a child. Yet thinking about everything she had learned during her first week working here, she couldn’t help but feel she was standing outside a completely different building altogether. The cheerful animatronic mascots wandering around and killing security guards during the night, children being kidnapped and mercilessly massacred by an employee, someone getting the front of their brain bitten out by one of the robots. Her once pure and innocent view of this restaurant and been completely twisted and warped, for she was just now finally seeing it for what it really was. A cursed place. A place of death. A place of violence, fear and misery.

 _Don’t be melodramatic_ , she scolded herself.

Deciding she had done enough pondering, she turned and began to walk down the sidewalk, heading straight home.

~

That afternoon, after she had gotten some sleep at home, Iona was doing some shopping at the grocery store. Though as she wondered around the isles, placing all the various items she needed into her basket, she still couldn’t get Freddy’s and everything that had happened there out of her mind. Again, even though she had music from her iPod playing in her ears, she didn’t listen to any of the songs, the titles and artists barely registering, the lyrics that she could usually relate to were now nothing but nonsensical gibberish. Her head was full to the brim with everything that had happened in the past week. Everything she had seen and heard. Everything she had learned. 

Of course, it had only been about twelve hours since she finally discovered the truth of what had happened, so the shock was still fresh in her mind. Things had definitely changed here in the past eighteen years while she was away, but not one of them was for the better. At first glance, the town appeared just as it had back when she was a child of five, nothing seemed obviously wrong with it or any of the people there. Yet one mention of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a place that was supposed to bring happiness and excitement, and it seemed a pall would instantly come over everyone. Smiles crumbled from people’s faces as they shivered in fear, afraid to repeat the name of the restaurant or even so much as breath a word of the tragedy that occurred there. It was only now that she understood why. Why they behaved the way they did whenever she tried to get any information out of them about what happened, why they just stared wide-eyed at her or made quick, instant attempts to change the subject, so keen to avoid the topic of Freddy Fazbear’s altogether. A bunch of kids going missing, never to be found again for years? It must’ve torn the whole town to pieces, which would certainly explain the mass neurosis she now saw in everyone whenever she said the name “Freddy Fazbear”, like she was casting a sinister spell on them all without actually meaning to or even realising it herself.

 _And what about those kids’ families?_ she suddenly found herself wondering. _The loved ones that were left behind? Do they still live here too? Are they still haunted by their losses too? Has their grief stayed as fresh all this time as it was the day it happened or have they moved on with their lives by now?_

No matter how lost she was in her thoughts, the world around her going by in a blur, she quickly snapped back to reality the moment she’d gotten everything she went in for. Thankfully it was a small queue, so she didn’t have to wait very long until she was at the cashier to pay for her items. Once all her shopping had been bagged, she gave the girl at the counter the money she owed her and proceeded to walk towards the door, holding the brown paper bag which held all her groceries in both arms as she went, but stopped when something unnerving caught her eye.

Turning, she saw a man standing at the end of the queue, staring intently at her. The man, she supposed, was middle-aged and of a lanky build. His dark hair had an unappealing shine about it, as if it hadn’t been washed for months. His blank, staring eyes were dark and were heavily bagged underneath, giving the impression that he had either been very ill for a long time or hadn’t slept properly for years. He wore a dark purple shirt and black trousers, all of which were wrinkled and hung loosely around his too small frame. In fact, he was so incredibly thin that he looked almost skeletal. The bones in his arms, his collarbone and even his cheekbones could be seen too clearly beneath his pale, almost white, skin which looked as though it had been stretched too tightly across his body. Just by looking at him, Iona couldn’t shake the idea that he had once been a robust man but had now shrunken down to the sickly stick of a figure he was now by some devastating illness or tragedy. To her, he looked like a walking corpse, an impression made even stronger by the somewhat hunched posture in which he stood and the way he clutched his singular shopping item, a small loaf of white bread, in his boney, scraggly fingers, holding it in a seemingly unnatural grip.

But it was his dark eyes which disturbed her the most, the way his gaze was fixed upon her, unblinking, like he was studying her all over. She felt herself begin to recoil under his gaze; she never liked to be stared at. Especially not by strangers. It always made her feel very uncomfortable. Though before she could move to walk out the door, the man began to step up towards her, still looking at her.

“I’m so sorry, young lady,” he apologised to her in a voice so hoarse that to Iona, it sounded as though he had been chain-smoking for years. “I didn’t mean to stare. How rude of me. You just… reminded me of someone I met once.”

“No, that’s… that’s okay,” replied Iona hesitantly, still a little disconcerted. “I’m… quite used to it. People used to stare at me all the time when I was at school.”

The last word was barely out of her mouth when she turned and took a couple of quick steps towards the store exit.

“I can see why,” she heard the man say behind her, causing her to stop in her tracks. “A girl as beautiful as yourself, I’ll just bet people found it very hard indeed _not_ to gaze upon your radiant beauty.”

This caused Iona to shiver. She knew not to let herself be so paranoid as to be creeped out every time some random stranger complimented her on her looks, but there was something about the way he said it that made her feel very uncomfortable indeed. Not like a gentleman politely addressing a lady, but more like a hungry person watering his mouth over a very appetising looking meal. Turning back to face the man, she was unsettled even more when she saw that his dark eyes now held a sinister glint in them as he continued to stare at her so intently. And if that wasn’t bad enough, his cracked lips had formed a sick smile which revealed his black and yellow teeth.

 _Whoa_ , Iona thought with repugnant amazement, trying not to wrinkle her nose at the sight. _When was the last time this guy brushed his teeth?_

“Um… n-no,” she replied nervously. “I-I don’t think.. that was why people stared at me, but… thanks for the compliment.”

“You’re quite welcome, my dear,” answered the man, stepping up to Iona so swiftly that she hadn’t been able to walk away fast enough before he was right up in her personal space. “After all, in a world so harsh and judgmental as this, compliments are very hard to get nowadays. So you really should cherish each one you get. You never know which will be the last one you hear before you die.”

As he spoke, his face was so close to hers that his breath hit her dead in the face. It was hot like the humid air in a rainforest and was strong with the most horrific stench ever to invade her nostrils, making her want to gag. She turned her face away from his so she wouldn’t be forced to cover her nose and mouth with her hand, knowing how rude that would look. Judging by the fact that his breath smelled like a mixture of tobacco and rotting calcium, she thought then that she must’ve been right about the chain-smoking.

Glancing back at him however, it was only then that she noticed his scars. Hundreds of them, all over his arms, chest and neck. White, knotted bumps in his flesh that looked as though they had been made by deep cuts all over his body. They covered whatever she could see of his pale skin like lace.

 _How of earth…?_ she questioned in her mind, wondering what could possibly have happened to him to have left him so horrifically scarred in this way.

“I-I never thought of it… th-that way,” she stammered again, clutching her shopping bag tightly to her chest as if for protection. “But… thanks. I-I’ll… keep that in mind. U-um… bye.”

Without waiting for another reply from the stranger, Iona immediately turned and walked quickly through the exit, eager to get away from this weirdo and out of his sight as fast as possible.

“Goodbye, my dear,” she heard him call after her as the automatic doors closed behind her, finally cutting her and the stranger off from each other.

Once she had walked quite briskly across the road, she stopped and dared to risk looking back towards the store out of which she had just come. To her relief, the man had not yet come through the exit and therefore did not seem to be watching her anymore.

_What was that all about?_

Deciding that it really didn’t matter all that much, considering that he was probably just another random stranger she’d crossed paths with on a shopping trip who she very likely would never see again, Iona shook her head, reminding herself not to be so paranoid and turned. Though as she walked back down the street towards her home, she still kept up quite a pace, just to be sure that he couldn’t find her and follow her home.

_Man, what a creep…_

~

Soon the weekend had passed and before she knew it, Iona was walking up towards the entrance to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza once more to begin her second week. For summer, it was quite a chilly night and the rain was lashing down heavily on the poor guard as she paced quickly towards the door, actually wearing her coat this time and holding an umbrella over her head to keep herself somewhat dry. Once at the doors, she went through the usual ceremony of reaching into her coat pocket for her keys, sliding them into the lock and turning them, unlocking the doors and stepping into the restaurant.

Once inside, she sighed with relief, glad to be indoors and out of the pouring weather as she closed her umbrella in, shaking off the worst of the rain before strapping it in place. “Thank goodness for that…” she breathed.

“Hey, Iona.”

Turning in the direction of the voice she suddenly heard, she spotted Bonnie and Chica already stepping down from the stage, both their eyes looking in her direction and mouth parts open in smiles.

“Oh hey, guys,” she smiled back at him. Then, looking up towards the stage and around the dining room, she noticed that a certain bear was missing. “Where’s Freddy?” she asked.

“Oh, him?” Bonnie turned and looked towards the doorway to the restrooms on the other side of the room. “He went into the bathrooms a few minutes ago,” he told her.

“What?” asked Iona as she too looked towards the bathrooms. “What’s he doing in there?

“Sometimes he goes in there when he wants to be alone,” Chica explained.

“Oh,” Iona responded, turning back to her friends. “Is he okay?”

Bonnie shrugged. “To be honest, who really knows with him anymore?” he answered. “He’s been an infernal grump since those kids were murdered here.”

“Hmm…” sighed Iona, briefly glancing back towards the bathrooms. “Well, I’m just gonna dump my stuff in the office then I’ll go check on him.”

“Alright,” said Chica as Iona turned and headed through the dining room, walking down the hallway with the ever flickering lightbulb towards her office.

As she entered the little room, Iona carefully placed her umbrella under the desk before removing her coat and hanging it over the back of the swivel chair. Before stepping back out, she looked towards the phone on the desk, wondering if any more sinister recordings had been left for her during her weekend off. She waited a moment, still watching the machine but it remained silent. No more messages, no more creepy, demonic voices. She sighed, shaking her head as she finally stepped forward, through the door opposite to the one she had come in from and walked down the other hallway.

She came back into the dining room, noticing out the corner of her eye Chica standing in amongst the tables and Bonnie walking into the storage room. She paid no more mind to them however as she continued on and went straight into the bathrooms. She immediately spotted Freddy leaning against the wall between the male and female bathrooms, looking down at what appeared to be a piece of paper in his paw.

“Hey, Freddy,” she said softly.

His attention caught, the bear looked up towards Iona and smiled when his blue eyes met hers. “Oh hi, Iona,” he replied before turning his attention back to the piece of paper he was holding.

“What’s that you got there?” she asked, walking up to him. Though before he answered, her eyes widened slightly when she immediately recognised what it was. It was a child’s picture, drawn entirely in different coloured crayons depicting Freddy hugging a small, brown-haired girl wearing a magenta dress. “Is that… one of mine?” she asked.

Turning back towards the guard, Freddy smiled again and nodded. “You’d made quite a lot of them back then,” he reminisced. “You always gave them to me when they were finished.”

Touched, Iona placed a hand over her heart as she fought to hold tears back. “I can’t believe you kept them all these years,” she breathed.

“How could I not?” he asked her. “After I sent you away, they were all I had left of you. All I had left to remember… happier times here.”

Iona gave a sad smile at that moment, remembering yet again how much happier it had been here when she was child than it was now. Noticing there was still a small space on the wall between Freddy and the doorway to the male bathroom, she then stepped right up to him and leaned back against that last strip of wall next to him. “I should really thank you for that, by the way,” she finally said.

Looking up from the drawing in his paw, Freddy turned and looked back at the guard in confusion. “For what?” he asked.

“For rescuing me that day,” she answered with a smile. “I didn’t understand what was going on at the time, I was too young. And I never found out about it until just a few nights ago, but now I know that if it hadn’t been for you, there would be six missing children instead of five, and that sixth one would’ve been me. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t be alive tonight. You saved my life, Freddy, and I promise I’ll never, ever forget it again. Thank you so much, Freddy.” She placed a hand on his shoulder as she said that last sentence.

The bear just shook his head. “Really, it was nothing,” he told her, turning away from her again. “You had always been my favourite of the children that came here. And when I saw that man luring you away, I couldn’t just let you…” he trailed off and let out a big sigh. “It was something I simply _had_ to do.”

Smiling again, Iona nodded. “All the same, I’m really glad you did it,” she told him. “I really owe you one, big time.”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you the other night,” said Freddy, suddenly changing the subject.

For a moment, Iona just looked at the bear, blinking in confusion before she instantly remembered what he was talking about. Giving him a lopsided smile, she simply shook her head. 

“No, it’s okay,” she said. “That’s forgotten about. Besides, I guess I was getting a little _too_ agitated, huh. I was just… really shocked about what I had just found out, you know. And I was so angry that I refused to see how impossible it would be to do anything about it now. I guess I needed _something_ to shock some sense into me, right?”

“All the same,” said Freddy, still not looking at her. “You were right to be angry. It’s just that you’d never given me any reason to raise my voice at you before. Years ago, when your parents used to bring you here, you were always such a good, polite, well-behaved little girl. You never once did anything to get scolded for.”

Iona just laughed softly at that. “Well, I’m afraid, as a kid, I didn’t _always_ behave so well,” she admitted. “I had plenty of my own naughty moments too.”

This time it was Freddy who laughed a little, seemingly unperturbed. “Every child does, I guess.”

“Yeah,” agreed Iona. “But even so, I always made a point of being on my best behaviour when I was here. I mean, to have my parents scold me in front of you guys, especially _you_ , that would’ve been _super_ embarrassing.”

Finally, the bear looked up towards he guard again, his blue eyes soft and his jointed mouth open in a smile. “Even if that did ever happen,” he said. “I still wouldn’t have thought any less of you.”

Iona returned Freddy’s smile once more. “Just like, despite knowing what you have done over the years, I still don’t think any less of you.”

The moment the guard spoke those words, Freddy’s eyes closed and he let out a sad sigh. “Why are you so forgiving to me, Iona?” he asked her, shaking his head. “After all the terrible things I’ve done, things that are so much worse than what any naughty child could ever be capable of, how could you _not_ think any less of me? How could you still be so loving and compassionate towards me? I really don’t deserve it.”

Iona’s own smile dropped from her her face as she listened to Freddy reproaching himself so suddenly. For a moment, she just stared sadly at him before she finally said, “Because… you’re my best friend. You always have been. You were when I was a kid and even now, after all these years, despite everything, you still are.”

Freddy looked up at her again.

“Though of course,” Iona continued. “I don’t condone what you’ve done to all the other night guards.”

“I should hope not,” Freddy answered.

“No,” answered Iona, shaking her head. “But the truth is, aside from all those terrible things you’ve done, for which I know that you feel awful about, you’ve also done some good things too. For one, you saved my life, for which I am very grateful. Also, I understand that it was only because of what you saved me from that you started doing the things that you did. I know you would never have been driven to such horrible acts had it not happened. Yes, I feared you when I first discovered the truth of what you guys did, but that fear quickly passed when I completely understood why. I know you might think that you’re evil and that you don’t deserve my forgiveness, but I know for a fact that you’re anything _but_ evil. If you were, you wouldn’t be beating yourself up about killing all those guards and you would never have gone out of your way to save me the way you did either. So inside this ruthless killing machine you see yourself as, there’s still plenty of good in you. _You_ probably don’t see it, but I can. Beneath this sad, grumpy, remorseful creature you’ve become, the _real_ Freddy Fazbear, the happy, friendly one I once knew, is still in there somewhere. All you need is to know that there’s someone who still cares about you, someone who still loves you.”

“Who could ever still love and care about us, Iona?” asked Freddy glumly.

“Well, _I_ do,” she answered. “I still love and care about you.”

Freddy just stared at Iona in disbelief. “Do you honestly?”

“Of course I do,” she answered, placing her hand back on his shoulder. “As much as I did when I was a child. Maybe even more by now. Because even though I know of everything you’ve done, I can see that there’s still good in you. That you still have the same amount of love in you as you did all those years ago. That’s why I don’t think any less of you. That’s why I’ve forgiven you. That’s why, after all these years, you’re still my favourite character, my best friend, and I know that no matter what, you always will be.”

Freddy just stared at Iona for moment. He really couldn’t have believed that after everything he did, he could still receive love and forgiveness from anybody, let alone Iona Blackburn, who had adored and looked up to him and his friends so many years ago, above anyone else. He thought she would’ve been hurt to know that the characters she’d loved so much could be capable of such atrocities. He thought she would’ve felt betrayed, and then she never would forgive them. Instead, she was understanding, knowing the reasons why he ended up doing what he did. She really couldn’t find it in her heart to blame them, and so she had forgiven them. And for this, he felt more touched by her merciful display of kindness than any other way she had flattered him before. 

His eyes softened, as though about to be accompanied by the tears that robots could never shed, and his smile returned to his face. Lifting his free paw, the one that wasn’t holding the drawing, he placed it over the hand Iona had put on his shoulder. 

“Thank you, Iona,” he said. “You’ve always been so kind and loving to us, and if I’m still worthy of your kindness after everything I’ve done, I suppose I’m worthy of forgiveness too.”

“I know you are,” she smiled. “Because you’ve proven to me that you’re not actually evil, that you’re not beyond redemption.”

“Well then,” he began. “If that’s the case, then you can bet that I’ll be doing everything I can from now on to redeem myself from what I’ve done.”

Iona laughed quietly. “Well, you’ve stopped the killing now, haven’t you?” she pointed out. “In my eyes, that’s redemption enough.”

“Personally, I don’t think anywhere _near_ enough,” Freddy responded. “But if you insist.”

Still smiling, he took hold of Iona’s hand and lowered it from his shoulder.

“You know,” he said. “It’s for reasons like this why we have always seen you as our best friend too. Why _I_ have always seen you as my best friend.”

Iona smiled again, but that smile slowly left her face when she remembered something else. “By the way,” she said. “There was something else I wanted to ask you.”

Letting go of her hand, Freddy’s expression returned to its usual seriousness, having sensed her own. “What is it?” he asked.

“The man you saved me from that day,” she began. “I won’t ask for a name to take to the police because I understand how futile that would be now. I just wanted to ask about the suit he wore.”

“The yellow rabbit?”

Iona nodded. “I had never seen such a character in this place before, until that day,” Iona went on. “And I’ve never seen any sign of him since I came back. Was he… ever part of this restaurant at all?”

Turning away, Freddy closed his eyes and shook his head. “Not _this_ restaurant,” he answered.

Iona blinked, surprised by what she had heard. “You mean there’s another one?” she asked.

“There was,” Freddy answered. “But that was a long time ago, before Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza ever existed. And it was never part of any big franchise chain like this one is. It was a smaller, independent restaurant. A more old-fashioned, rustic little place, you know. But eventually, the owners leased it to the company who later called themselves ‘Fazbear Entertainment’.”

“And was that a kid’s pizzeria too?” asked Iona.

Freddy nodded.

“Animatronic mascots?” she questioned again.

“Only two of them,” he answered. “A bear and a rabbit, both yellow in colour. Though there was something about them that was different to the ones here.”

“And what was that?”

“Well, it was mainly to do with the animal suits,” explained Freddy. “They had two functions; to be placed onto an animatronic endoskeleton and to be worn by an employee.”

Iona raised her eyebrow. “That’s a bit strange,” she said.

“Yeah, just a bit,” Freddy agreed with a nod. “Of course, around the time that that restaurant was sold, those suits were eventually retired.”

“Oh,” responded Iona. “Was that because the restaurant they belonged to was closed?”

“No,” answered Freddy, shaking his head. “They were too dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” repeated Iona, eyes widening in surprise. “In what way?”

“The suits had mechanical parts attached to the inside of them so that they could be fitted onto an animatronic,” Freddy explained further. “But these parts could also be held back by devices called spring locks so that a person could also wear them easily enough. However, while wearing them, one would have to be _extremely_ careful, because those spring locks were very easy to trigger. Even simply breathing on them was enough to potentially cause them to come loose.”

“And… if they were to come loose while a person was still inside the suit…?” Iona asked, starting to comprehend the danger of these old suits.

“All the mechanical parts would quickly snap back into place, like setting off a mousetrap,” Freddy went on. “All that sharp metal and hard plastic would be driven into their body, crushing and slicing them to pieces.”

Gasping softly, Iona put a hand up over her mouth, horrified by what she was hearing.

Seeing the guard’s reaction, Freddy nodded again. “Mm-hm. To say that the unfortunate person inside was seriously injured would be one hell of an understatement. Without immediate medical attention, they would bleed to death very quickly. If they lived, they would be grotesquely scarred for life.”

Iona lowered her hand over her mouth, but he she still looked at the bear in horror. “And… were there any accidents involving these spring locked suits?” she asked, although something told her she already knew the answer she was about to get.

“Oh yes, a good number of them,” Freddy told her. “A few fatalities too.”

“Oh, my God,” Iona breathed, placing a hand over her stomach as she began to feel a little sick. “No wonder they were retired.”

“Indeed,” agreed Freddy. “I thought they would’ve been destroyed after the old restaurant was closed, but I guess the company decided to just store them away in this restaurant’s archives.”

“But why?” asked Iona again.

Freddy shrugged. “For future use, I suppose,” he speculated. “Though what possible use the owners here could ever hope to have for those things is beyond me.”

Iona crossed her arms over her chest. “I do wonder,” she said. “It doesn’t seem very logical to hang onto something as dangerous as that.”

“All the same,” Freddy began, turning back to face the guard, looking at her in seriousness. “I want you to promise me something.”

Iona turned to Freddy. “Yes?” she asked.

“If you do ever come across one of those suits during a shift,” he said. “Don’t touch them. Don’t even go near them.”

Iona scoffed. “Freddy, I’m not a stupid little kid anymore,” she told him. “I think I know not to touch things that are dangerous, unless it’s something I’m sure I could handle safely enough.”

“But that’s just it,” he answered. “You _don’t_ know how to handle them. You didn’t even know they ever existed until just now. In the days before they were banned, only those that were specially trained were allowed to use them. And I’m talking _really_ special training. People who _really_ knew what they were doing, what they were handling. You’ve not had such training, you don’t know how to work them. I know you’re a sensible woman, Iona, and I know you wouldn’t go near something you didn’t know how to handle properly. But please, just promise me that you won’t touch them.”

Hearing the plea in the bear’s voice as he spoke that last sentence made Iona take a few seconds to think. Of course he’d want her to make such a promise to him, no matter how old she was, no matter how sensible she had become, how much common sense she possessed. He had narrowly saved her from death once and he never saw her again for years after that, and it was only just very recently that she came back to the restaurant. He would be haunted by the day she had very nearly lost her life to some sadistic assailant, but at the same time very relieved that he had rescued her in the nick of time. He would be very protective of her, perhaps excessively so. Of course he would know that he wouldn’t have to be, seeing that she was no longer a vulnerable child but a grown woman who could very likely take care of herself, but he wouldn’t be able to help it either. That was just what happened when you’ve seen someone you cared about in danger, when you’ve seen them nearly meet their end but having just narrowly escaped it.

She gave him an understanding smile and nodded. “Alright,” she said. “If it makes you feel any better, I promise not to touch them. The first spring lock suit I see, I will immediately turn and walk the other way.”

Freddy returned her smile again. “Thank you, Iona,” he said. “That really is another load off my mind.”

“Hey, Iona!” they suddenly heard Chica's high-pitched voice call from outside the bathrooms. Barely a second later, before the two could react, the chicken in question came into the room and stopped dead when she saw her two friends standing together. “Oh…” she said, a mischievous gleam appearing in her violet eyes and her beak opening in what looked like a grin. “Not interrupting anything, am I?”

“What?” Freddy asked, confused. Though what his feathered friend had meant quickly dawned him just then. “No!” he just about shouted, clearly offended as he waved his paw wildly as if trying to shoo away the idea. “No, nothing like that! Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Hey! I was just kidding!” Chica protested, yellow hands raised defensively. “Geez, what is it with you bears and your grizzly tempers? Can’t take a darn joke!”

“Yeah, real funny, Chica,” Iona answered sarcastically, sharing in Freddy’s annoyance.

“Anyway, is something wrong?” the bear finally asked his fellow robot.

“Well, it’s just that Bonnie snapped a string on his guitar,” Chica informed him. “We found a spare one in the back room, but we can’t actually replace the broken one.”

“Why not?” asked Iona.

“Well…” Chica began awkwardly, holding her hands out in front of her, fingers spread wide apart. “Our fingers are too big and chunky. So we were hoping, Iona, as the only human present as of now, you might be able to fix it for him. With hands as small as yours, you’d clearly have better dexterity than the rest of us.”

Iona huffed at this, but leaned off the wall behind her and stood to her full height. “Alright,” she said resignedly. “I’m not actually the best at tying knots, but I’ll do my best.”

“Okay,” replied Chica, turning and heading out of the bathroom.

Iona went to follow suit but stopped and turned back to Freddy. “Um…”

Freddy shook his head and gave her a weak smile. “It’s okay,” he said. “You’d better go and see to Bonnie’s guitar. He’d be lost without that thing. I’ll be back out in a minute.”

“Oh, okay,” replied Iona. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he answered. “Sometimes I just need to be alone with my thoughts is all. But thanks for checking on me all the same.”

“No problem,” the guard smiled before turning and walking out of the bathroom and back into the dining room.

 _Intelligent though he is for a robot_ , she thought as she walked up to the stage where Bonnie sat waiting for her with his guitar. _How could he possibly know so much about that old restaurant. In fact, how could he know it ever existed at all? And the killer, how did_ he _know about those old suits too?_


	11. Chapter 10: Words of Comfort

“So I threw the biscuit for the dog, right?” recalled Iona, grinning wildly as she made a light throwing motion with her hand. She was sitting at one of the tables in the dining room and was telling some funny anecdotes to her friends. “And he leapt up to catch it in his mouth, but he missed and it bounced off his nose, fell to the floor and then rolled under the coffee table.”

“Oh, gosh,” said Chica, putting a feathered hand over her beak as she giggled a little.

“But wait, that’s not even the funniest part,” Iona went on, holding a hand up as a gesture for her friends to keep listening. “I assumed that, considering the laws of physics and everything, it would’ve stopped rolling and fell over onto its side after it had gone under, but barely two seconds later, it reappeared at the other end of the table and rolled under the couch at the exact same speed!” 

She could barely contain her mirth as she practically cried out those last few words before throwing her head back and was overcome with a fit of hysterical laughter as the hilarious scene replayed in her mind, her hand hand clutching tightly at her chest. 

“Haha, for real?” asked Bonnie with a laugh of his own.

“Yeah!” Iona answered, still guffawing uncontrollably. She grabbed hold onto the side of the table with her free hand to try and keep herself steady while her eyes remained clenched shut, barely stopping tears from leaking through. “I could hardly believe it! I was not expecting that at all! At the speed it was going at, it looked like it had a mind of its own! Like it was thinking, ‘To hell with this! I’m not getting eaten! I’m outta here!’ It was so unreal!”

All four robots joined in her laughter, clearly now picturing the amusing scene of aforementioned biscuit reappearing from under the coffee table from having hurtled at an impossibly long distance and then disappearing under the couch in that same moment in their own artificial minds. Chica still held her hand over her beak, Bonnie had doubled over slightly with his large paw over his abdomen and even Freddy was tittering quietly as he shook his head in amusement.

“Hahaha-a-a-a-ahaha-a-a-a-arrrr, that be very amu-u-u-sin’, la-a-a-ass,” chortled Foxy, his tattered arms crossed over his torn chest.

“It is, right?” Iona replied, starting to calm down now as she wiped a single tear from her eye and clutched her now aching stomach. Still smiling wildly, she let out a big sigh as she went on, “It really was one of the funniest things I’d ever seen. For ages, my mom and I were both killing ourselves from laughing so hard. Eight years later and it still has me falling about whenever I look back on it.”

Freddy chuckled again. “Sounds like a very comical environment, your household,” he said.

“Haha, yeah,” answered Iona, turning back to face the bear who stood behind her. “We’re all pretty crazy, me and my family. And that was just a few of the stories I could tell you all about us. I have lots more.”

Bonnie looked up to the clock on the wall beside the stage. “Ah, well,” he said, turning back to Iona. “That might have to wait until another night. It’s almost 6 o’clock now.”

“What, already?” Iona glanced at her watch. The time in the black digital letters read 5:57 am. “Oh crap, so it is. Heh, I guess it’s true what they say. Time passes when you’re having fun.”

“It sure does,” replied Chica, nodding. “You’d better think about heading home soon.”

“Well, I don’t need to go _just_ yet,” Iona told her. “It’s the end of the week, I gotta wait around for my pay check.”

She stood up from her seat.

“But you’re right,” she continued. “I may as well head to my office now and get my coat since you guys will be powering down shortly. I’ll see you all next week then.”

“Yeah, we’ll see ya,” Bonnie called after her as she turned headed through the dining room and down the west hallway towards her office.

Once she was back in the little room, she had just picked up her coat when she heard the familiar sound of heavy footsteps coming up the corridor towards her office. She just smiled; she knew it could only have been one of her friends following her to her office to properly say goodbye to her before returning to the stage. Normally, they would see her to the front door as she left for the day, but tonight there would be no need as she would be waiting around for the next hour to get her pay check from Lenny once more. Still, it was a nice gesture on their part, one that Iona always appreciated.

Very soon, Freddy came into view, smiling in at the guard through the window as he passed before reappearing at the door.

“So,” he said, stepping into the office beside Iona. “That makes two weeks that you’ve worked here now. How you liking your new job then?”

“Yeah, I’m loving it a lot,” she answered enthusiastically with a smile of her own. “Best job in the world, really. Not only do I get to work at the same restaurant that was my favourite place to be as a kid, but I also get to spend the entire shift basically just hanging out with my best friends. Honestly, what could be better?”

Freddy chuckled. “Indeed,” he agreed. “And the fact that a horrible crime was committed here and that we ourselves had been killing security guards since then doesn’t change a thing for you?”

Iona shook her head. “Not a bit,” she said. “If anything, it makes me want to keep working here all the more. Hopefully then I’ll have a better chance at somehow helping to restore this place to its former glory, to change it back to the popular and safe place for children to come and have fun and be happy once more, just like it was back in the good old days. I don’t exactly know how I’d do that right now, but hey, where there’s a will, there’s a way, right?”

Freddy smiled again. “Yes, you’re quite right,” he said with a nod. “And I do appreciate that. And I’m sure the others would too.” Turning to face the dark corridor outside, Freddy sighed and added, “As would those kids.”

At the mention of the lost children, Iona let out a sad sigh of her own. “Yeah, well,” she breathed. “We all gotta do what we can, don’t we?”

It was strange and she would never admit it to anyone, she could hardly even admit it to herself, but now that she knew the truth about what happened, Iona felt a pang of guilt in her heart, for surviving when the other children she was with didn’t. She had narrowly escaped the pain and terror they had suffered in their final moments, carried away from her abductor and delivered back to the safety of her family just like that, while the rest stayed behind to be brutally massacred like lambs in a slaughterhouse. She knew she didn’t have to, and neither should she have, but a little piece of her still felt bad about it. Which was why, more than anything, she wanted to do what she could for them in return. Be it finding their killer and bringing him to justice, or simply just helping to somehow give the restaurant a fresh start, changing it back to the way it was when she was a child, as if nothing bad had ever happened there, anything that would assure them peace.

Turning back to face the guard, Freddy’s smile returned to his face. “So, did you ever tell your family that you’re working here now?” he asked.

Iona froze instantly, staring at the bear as his question, though perfectly innocent, had caught her completely off guard. Of course she had kept in touch with her family since she had moved into her apartment, even after she had started work, but she didn’t ever dare tell them that she had gotten a job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza of all places. How could she after the day they had taken her from the restaurant for the last time? After they refused to even speak to her about it since? She didn’t know for certain how they would react, but she had a very good idea and the thought horrified her beyond words. It wasn’t something she liked to think about in the slightest.

Turning away from her friend, Iona just stared in the general direction of her desk and sighed again. “No,” she finally answered. “I never told them.”

Tilting his head to the side, Freddy just looked at the guard, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “Why on earth not?” he asked.

Iona shook her head, still not looking at him. “I-I can’t,” she stuttered slightly, her voice catching in her throat as tears threatened to form any second. “I just can’t. I still talk to them on the phone whenever I miss them, which is fairly often, even after I started working here. But…” She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I always… end the conversation, change the subject or find an excuse to hang up whenever they ask me if I had found a job yet. I can’t tell them, Freddy. I just can’t.”

Freddy blinked in confusion, his plastic eyelids making a light clicking sound when they touched, though comprehension was now beginning to dawn on him. “You don’t think they’d disapprove, do you?” he questioned. “I mean, they must know how much you loved it here, surely.”

Iona was silent and still for a few seconds, trying in vain to suppress the lump that was slowly forming in her throat, before she finally began to explain, “After the day we left the pizzeria for the last time - after we moved out of town - I could never get my parents to talk to me about it for years. Whenever I asked, they’d just stare at me in complete horror before quickly changing the subject. Eventually, I began to feel it had become a forbidden topic of discussion, something I was never to learn anything about or indeed anything I was allowed to talk or even think about anymore. The subject of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza had pretty much become taboo in our household.”

“Mm-hm…?” Freddy nodded, indicating for Iona to continue as he wanted to hear the whole explanation.

“But before we moved…” Iona trailed off, clenching her eyes shut to fight back tears, dreading to bring up the rather painful memory she was about to recall. “It was a few days after you sent me away. My sister and I were coming home from school when we saw a police car parked outside our house. My parents, of course, were never suspects, but they were potential witnesses, being residents in the area and all. I guess the police just wanted to question everyone in town, enquiring if they had seen anything suspicious that day.”

“And what did your parents tell them?” Freddy asked.

Iona shook her head. “I don’t remember. But after they left… my mom…” She tensed up even more, struggling to force herself to tell him the most unpleasant part of her story which was now coming up. “Well… she was never the best at keeping a level head, especially during an emergency or a serious situation. She could always freak out quite easily, and when she did… I always found her anxiety to be… contagious, you know?”

“I see,” Freddy said softly in understanding.

“The worst I ever saw her panicking was after the police were gone that day,” Iona went on. “She put on a calm enough demeanour when she sent my sister and I to our rooms, but when she and my dad were alone together…” She put a hand to her mouth, trying not to sob. “She exploded into a fit of shouting and screaming. Normally, she only did that when she was angry, but that time, even to me at only five years old, she sounded more scared than angry.”

“That's understandable, of course,” Freddy told her. “Knowing that there was a child murderer in town, and that he had very nearly gotten her own daughter? The idea must’ve really terrified her.”

“I don’t remember ever seeing her so upset before though,” continued Iona, her voice wavering as the urge to cry grew stronger. “And I never saw her freak out so badly since then. It was awful. A truly drastic change had come over her, she was like a woman possessed, not a bit like herself. I didn’t know who I thought I heard screaming at my dad from downstairs that day, but I couldn’t bring myself to believe that it was really my mom at all. It was the most horrible thing I’d ever heard and it still haunts me sometimes.”

A couple of tears fell from her eyes and she quickly wiped them from her face.

“That’s why I can’t tell my family that I work here now, Freddy,” she said. “Especially not my mom. After what happened here all those years ago, I can only imagine just how horrible the memories of it must be for her. If I were to tell her, I’m afraid she might go into that same fit of intense hysterics again. Oh God, Freddy, I never wanna hear that again…”

“Iona…” Freddy stepped forward until he was right next to the guard.

“And I can’t lie to them about working somewhere else either,” Iona continued still. “I’ve always hated lying, especially to people that I love, like my friends and my family. It always made me feel so awful. And I know that if I did, it would hurt them, just as much as telling them the truth would, that I was ever to associate myself with this place again after what had happened. I can’t lie to them, but I can’t be honest with them either. What else can I do but stay silent about it, keep it locked away inside me like some shameful secret? When I first saw the ad in the paper, I was so excited about the possible opportunity of working in my favourite childhood restaurant that I didn’t even think about how my family would feel about it. Maybe… Maybe I was wrong to come back here after all.”

As she spoke that last sentence, Iona’s voice finally cracked as more tears fell from her eyes like waterfalls. She kept her hand over her mouth, trying hard to keep her cries under control, though she was unsuccessful in keeping more tears from flowing. The last thing she wanted was to burst into a fit of sobs in front of her favourite character.

Heartbroken from seeing his friend so upset, Freddy gently placed a large paw on Iona’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said softly to her. “I don’t think you were wrong to come back. And neither do I think you should worry about what your family thinks about it either.”

Hearing this, Iona finally turned back to face the bear, wiping away a few more tears so she could see him better. “N-no?”

Freddy shook his head. “Of course, I can understand why they’d feel uneasy about you working here, considering what had almost happened to you before,” he said. “But really, you don’t have to feel like you’ve gone behind their backs or anything, not by simply working at a place you’d loved as a kid. From what you’ve told me, they never actually _said_ they never wanted you near this place again, they were just so reluctant to talk about it again because of the horror of what had happened. So maybe the reason they do’t talk about it now is because you’ve not tried to bring it up anymore either. I’m guessing that instead of repressing the memory of what happened here, they just tried to put it all behind them now. And why shouldn’t they? It was eighteen years ago, so why should they still be so upset about it after all this time? And you were a child back then, but you’re a grown woman now. You have the right to make your own decisions in life and I can see how strong and capable you are now of taking care of yourself. And in all this time, the man who killed those children hasn’t once shown his face here since, so I highly doubt we’ll ever see him again.”

“So then… you don’t think my family would be upset?” asked Iona hopefully.

“I doubt it very much,” Freddy answered her reassuringly. “And you know, they have the right to know where you’re working now. Especially since you keep hesitating to tell them, they’re gonna know something’s up and they’ll find out eventually, one way or another. I think it’s best if you tell them and not worry so much about how they’re gonna react, especially not your mom. I can imagine they’d probably be a little uncomfortable with it at first, but they’ll know just as well as I do how much older, how much more mature and how capable you are of taking care of yourself now. Besides, you like working here, don’t you?”

Iona sniffled as she nodded in response. “Of course, I do,” she said with a slight whimper. “I love it here.”

“Exactly,” stated Freddy. “And it was your choice to work here when you saw there was a position available. Really, it’s okay that you just went ahead with applying for the job without having first consulted your family first. Like I said, you’re an adult now therefore the choice was all yours. And as soon as your family get over their anxieties, they’ll remember that too. They’ll understand that you love it here and that you’re a great, enthusiastic employee.”

Iona smiled then, blushing a little. “You really think so?”

“Of course,” Freddy told her, smiling. “You’re the best night guard we’ve ever had. And no, I’m not just saying that because we love you. The manager seems really fond of you too and commends you for your enthusiasm and commitment to the job, something none of the other night guards here ever had. Of course, that’s pretty much _our_ fault, but my point still stands. Plus, you get to have us mascots to yourself all night.” He finished that last sentence with a wink.

Iona giggled softly.

“Overall, you’re having a great time here,” Freddy went on. “And you have the right to keep working here for as long as you want, and I’m sure your family are well aware of that too. I really don’t think they’d judge you for it or try to persuade you to find work elsewhere. Your parents love you very much and you seem to have a great relationship with them. I don't just know this from all the stories you've told us about them, but I saw how they were with you every time they brought you here as a kid. If they see that you’re happy here, you’ll have nothing but their full support in the end. Hey, I’m even sure they’ll applaud you for still wanting to work here _because_ of what happened, since you’re waiting for an opportunity to use your involvement with this place to try and set things right. So really, no matter how worried you are about how they feel about you working here, you have definitely not done them wrong by any means. Honestly, you can tell them, it’s okay. I know they won’t be hurt or angry.”

By now, more tears were flowing from Iona’s eyes now. Though not tears of fear, guilt or sadness like before, but tears of joy and relief. For a few seconds, she stood stock still, trembling lips having managed to form a smile as she looked up at Freddy before she sprung forward, wrapping her arms around the bear in a tight hug.

“Th-thank you, Freddy!” she sobbed into his chest, tears soaking into his fake fur. “Thank you so much!”

Smiling warmly, Freddy wrapped his large arms around the guard’s smaller, still quivering form, holding her in a gentle embrace. “It’s okay, Iona,” he breathed softly to her, stroking his large paw over her head. “Just let it all out.”

They stayed that way for a few short moments, Freddy continuing to hold Iona as she let her happy, relieved sobs out. Soon she began to calm down until her crying had stopped completely. Pulling away from the bear, she looked up at him, still smiling brightly though her eyes were now bloodshot and her face was blotchy and still stained with tears. 

Returning her smile, Freddy lifted his paw to Iona’s face, wiping away some stray tears with his thumb. “There,” he said. “Feel better?”

Iona nodded. “Much better,” she answered, her voice still a little croaky from crying. “Thank you so much, Freddy. That’s another huge load off my mind.”

Freddy chuckled, lowering his arms from around Iona but placing a paw on her shoulder. “No problem,” he said. “After the words of kindness you gave me earlier this week, it’s the least I could do.”

Iona smiled again at that. “You’re a true friend, Freddy,” she said. “You always have been, you know.”

“Well,” he began. “For a robot that’s murdered hundreds of night guards over the years, I guess I am.”

Iona couldn’t help but laugh a little at that, but she instantly felt bad about it. “That’s a terrible joke to make!” she protested with a grin. Then her expression turned a little more serious again. “But all the same, thanks to you, I feel a lot better about this already. I think, next time I call my parents, I’m gonna finally tell them that I work here.”

“Good,” smiled Freddy, lightly nudging her shoulder with his fist. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”

Iona smiled warmly at him, then another thought came to her head. “By the way,” she said. “It’s really good to see you smiling again.” Then, in a teasing voice, she added, “Mr. Grumpy Bear,” as she raised her finger up to his face and pressed his nose, producing a loud, high-pitched _squeak!_ sound.

“Hey, get off!” laughed Freddy as he gently but playfully batted Iona’s hand away from his face, which also got a giggle out of her.

“I was wondering if your nose did that, like in that poster,” she said, still grinning.

Freddy chuckled in response. “I suppose every night guard that’s worked here has wondered the same thing,” he answered. “Though I’m afraid I always gave them a reason to not wanna stay and find out anymore.”

Iona just gave him a lopsided smile. “Yeah, well,” she said. “Don’t worry about that anymore. That’s all in the past.”

“Thanks,” Freddy answered, nodding. “But you’re right. It definitely feels good to be smiling again after all these years. And I have you to thank for that.”

Iona immediately turned away, blushing brightly. “Oh, go on,” she said, waving her hand dismissively.

“But it’s true,” said Freddy. “For the past eighteen years, all I’ve ever been able to feel was anger. Anger at what had happened, anger at the person responsible, anger at myself for all that _I_ had done. But since you’ve come back, I’ve been constantly reminded of the times that always made me happy.”

Iona looked at Freddy with a smile. “Well, I’m very glad to hear that I might be able to get the old Freddy Fazbear back,” she said. “The Freddy Fazbear I knew and loved. The cheerful, friendly one who liked nothing more than to dance and sing for the kids while they ate their pizzas.”

Freddy returned her smile then glanced down at the watch around the guard’s wrist. “Well,” he said. “That’s five minutes past six now. I really ought to get back to the stage. You’re off home now, right?”

“Well, not quite yet,” Iona told him. “I gotta wait around to get my pay check from the manager. But yeah, I think I’ve kept you here long enough. You’d better go and power down now.”

“Yes,” replied Freddy. Turning, he told her, “I’ll see you next week then,” before walking out of the office.

“Wait a second, Freddy,” Iona called after him, following him out into the hallway.

The bear stopped and turned back to face the guard again. “Yes?”

“…Thanks again,” she said, her smile returning to her slightly. “For everything you’ve said just now.”

Freddy smiled back at her. “You’re welcome,” he simply answered. “Goodnight, Iona.” And with that he turned again and walked down the hallway towards the dining room.

Still watching after the robot as he disappeared into the darkness ahead, Iona couldn’t help her smile from widening as she still felt warm inside from the pep talk that Freddy had given her. Before, she had been terrified at the idea of telling her family where she worked, but now, after the reassuring conversation she’d just had with him, she felt completely at ease, knowing that she never really had anything to worry about. Of course her family wouldn’t disapprove, and even if they did, she was an adult now, therefore they wouldn’t have the right to try and make her find a job elsewhere if she didn’t want to. Thankfully they knew this so they wouldn’t even think of trying anyway. Nervous though they would be with the idea at first, she would remind them that she was old enough now to take care of herself and make her own decisions. She would make them see that she was happy where she worked and she would have nothing but their support in whatever she chose to do. And it took some comforting words from her favourite childhood character to remind her of all of that.

So for the next hour or so, Iona waited inside the pizzeria with her spirits at the highest they had been in a long time. Even when Lenny had shown up to give her her pay check, she was still smiling brightly as she received it from him. Heading through the dining room with a hint of a skip in her step, she cheerfully said goodbye to her friends up on the stage before finally exiting the building and walked home, totally revelling in the amazing mood she was now in and felt like she would be in for a long time to come. Things, she thought, could only get better from here.


	12. Chapter 11: Let's Party!!!

By now, Iona had already worked three weeks at Freddy’s. At some point during the third week, she had finally informed her family of where it was she now worked. It was her father she had spoken to on the phone then, which she was very thankful for since, out of the rest of her family, he was the least likely to loose his cool so easily. Upon hearing the news however, he did seem a little uncomfortable at first, but he had remained calm and listened as Iona explained to him everything Freddy had advised her to. That she now knew what had happened there, that the person responsible had not returned since then, that she really loved her new job and that she was old enough to take of herself, no matter what happened next. Just as Freddy had reassured her, her father understood her position completely and had ultimately agreed that there was nothing wrong with her working at the old pizzeria after all. If anything, he was very supportive of her choice of workplace, even encouraged her to keep going with it if it was something she enjoyed doing so much, especially since it was at a place she had loved very much as a child.

Despite her new found confidence in there being no consequences for her confession, her father’s calm and positive reaction was a such huge relief to Iona. It really was, as she had told Freddy, another load off her mind. She still wasn’t sure if her mother would feel the same way of course, but her secret was finally out, and she had revealed it to someone who did not freak out so much over it. Once it was out, she told her father it was okay to pass the news onto her mother and sister. Even if her mother was still to fear the worst once she had been told, it just meant that Iona wouldn’t have to experience the horror of listening to her loose her mind over it again at least. Besides, her dad had promised her that he would explain everything to her mom that she had to him. Hopefully that would be enough to pacify any fears she would have.

With that finally off her chest, the third week had gone by very smoothly for Iona. Nothing too eventful had happened, good or bad. Every night, she would show up to work round about the same time, not a second late, and would spend the whole shift hanging out in the dining room, talking to her friends. Though it seemed she talked to Freddy more often than she would to the others. Not that anybody ever complained about that of course. He had always been her favourite character after all, just as she had always been his favourite guest, something the other three were perfectly aware of too. They had always been such close friends, ever since she was a child, and happily, that friendship had carried on into her adulthood. She was now his favourite night guard, his best friend. Whenever the two spent time together during her shifts, they always talked the hours away, continuing to rekindle their lost friendship until it was as if nothing at all had changed in the years that she had been away, as if she had never left at all.

Despite everything she knew about the restaurant’s dark past, Iona was indeed having a wonderful time working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. To her, it didn’t matter now whether it was bright and busy or dark and empty; either way, it never lost the lively charm she saw in it all those years ago, as she spent her shifts laughing and talking with the animatronics she now considered a second family. Despite having the night shift position, when the place was closed and all the other employees had gone home, she was never bored when she was at work. She could always rely on her best friends to keep her happy and entertained, just like they had done when she was a kid. In fact, she often wished that the six hours she was required to work didn’t fly by so quickly every night, that the time she spent with her friends could last longer.

To Iona, it really was the best job in the world, one she didn’t think she’d ever give up for anything. Indeed, she had dreamed once of making it big one day in the entertainment industry, either as a singer or an actress, or even both if possible, rather than ending up with an underpaid job as a lowly security guard. But in all honesty, she now felt that working a simple job which meant she could be with her friends all night was the most rewarding thing she could ever have hoped for. So much more than an otherwise exhausting career which would see her spending months away from home and out of her comfort zone, having to endure thousands of strangers staring at her almost every day and night, trying to get up in her personal space. However, if she thought that nothing in the world could’ve made her happier by this point, then little did she know that she had yet another thing coming.

Soon the night came when Iona would be starting her fourth week at work. It wasn’t exactly a major anniversary or anything, but it was still a milestone she felt rather proud of and one she couldn’t help but feel excited about as she strolled through the dark streets on her way to the pizzeria. However, as she finally reached the restaurant, she slowed her step when she heard some strange muffled noises coming from inside. Eyebrows raised in confusion, she listened carefully to said noises for a split second until she recognised the all too familiar rhythmic, pulsing sound coming from within.

_Are they… playing music?_

Quickening her step, Iona continued towards the pizzeria, taking her keys from her pocket as she went. She unlocked the glass doors and slipped into the building, stopped in her tracks by a most unexpected scene. The usually impenetrable darkness of the dining room was somewhat dispelled by hundreds of dots of light rotating around the room. Iona looked up to the ceiling where the source of the lights hung, a silver disco ball spinning slowly around. The guard then wondered if it had always been there and she’d just never noticed it before or if one of the animatronics had somehow just put it up there. Looking towards the stage, she saw that it was brightly lit with the multicoloured stage lights that were usually only on during the day, illuminating it in colours of yellow, pink and green. An upbeat pop song was blaring from the two huge speakers on either side, which had accounted for the music Iona had heard from outside. Up on the stage stood Bonnie. His legs were wide apart as he rocked out with his guitar, as if he were Eddie Van Halen or one of those classic 80’s rock stars, producing loud screaming notes as he played along to the music, creating a rather ear-splitting din. His eyes were closed and his mouth was wide open in an excited grin as he banged his head to the tune.

Closing the door behind her, Iona locked it and instantly turned back to the scene before her. “What’s all this then!?” she yelled up to the rabbit on the stage, hoping he would hear her over the loud music.

Thankfully he did, as he instantly ceased his playing and head-banging, one of his large ears twitching up as he opened his eyes and turned in her direction. “Oh hi, Iona!” he called down to her, waving his paw. “Oh, this? Nothin’ doing! Just a party is all!”

“A party?” Iona asked him with her voice still raised, barely hearing herself over the music. “But why?”

“Call it a celebration!” came Chica’s answer from way over at the other end of the room. Looking in the direction of the voice, Iona saw the chicken emerging from the darkness of the east hallway. She was carrying a stack of cardboard pizza boxes in one hand and a large metal plate with a mound of multi-coloured cupcakes in the other. She wore a chef’s hat on her head and her beak was wide open in a smile.

“A celebration for what exactly?” Iona asked her, puzzled.

“Oh, nothing much,” replied Chica nonchalantly as she carried the food over to the centre of the room, placing it all down on the middle table. “It’s just that it’s been such a long time since any of us felt any amount of real joy, so we figured we’d throw a little party in celebration of finally getting that happy feeling back.”

“And it’s all thanks to you, dear Iona, for returning to us after all this time,” Bonnie told her with a wink, still gripping his guitar in both paws. “So in a way, this party is for _you_ , girl!” With that statement made, the rabbit immediately went back to the atrocious strumming on his electric guitar.

Iona laughed, putting her hands on her hips. “Well, I never,” she said.

Suddenly, Freddy appeared, stepping up right next to her. “I’m sorry, Iona,” he apologised, shaking his head as he looked around the dining room at his friends. “I tried to persuade them not to, but they insisted on it.”

“It’s okay, Freddy,” she told him, smiling up to him. “You guys have spent the last twenty years entertaining children all day every day. I think you’re all entitled to entertain _yourselves_ for once, and in a way that _doesn’t_ involve murdering security guards.” She added that last part with a wink.

The bear’s apologetic look fell from his face as he smiled widely down at the guard. “Haha, well,” he chuckled. “If you’re not mad about it, then I guess I’ll allow them to indulge themselves tonight.”

“Of course,” replied Iona with a nod. “Just make sure you all clean up any mess that remains come six o’clock. I might even help you out if I’m still here.”

“Sure thing,” Freddy answered as the two separated, himself walking towards the middle of the room as Iona made her way to her office.

As she passed Pirate Cove, she glanced over to the little stage and saw Foxy staggering down from it. “Hey, Foxy!” she called to him. “You coming out to join the party?”

“A-a-a-a-aye, that I a-a-a-am, la-a-a-ass,” the pirate stuttered back at her with a sharp-toothed smile. “I-I-I-I-I wouldn’t miss ou-ou-ou-ou-out on a celebra-a-a-ation such as thi-i-i-i-is for the wo-o-o-o-orld.”

“Awesome!” smiled Iona, giving her pirate friend a thumbs-up. Then, gesturing to her coat draped over her arm, she informed him, “Just gonna leave this in the office, then I’ll be right back to join in too.”

That being said, the guard continued on her way through the west hallway towards her office. Entering the small dimly lit room, Iona ignored the now muffled music from the other end of the restaurant as she hung her coat round the back of the swivel chair. Before she made another move, she took a few seconds to look down at the phone, respectfully having a brief moment of silence for Phone Guy. She normally did this now when beginning her shift, since learning of his death. She knew she wasn’t obliged to, but she did feel like it was the right thing to do. Finally turning and stepping out of her office, she headed back down the dark corridor lit only by the ever flickering light to join her friends.

_~*Two hours later*~_

“ _Whooooooaaaaa, we’re halfway there!_ ” Bonnie sang out, making the devil horns sign on his forehead as he continued to play screeching notes from his guitar in time with the song that played. “ _WHOOOOOAAAAA, livin’ on a prayer!_ ”

“Get off the stage, hack!” Freddy heckled jokingly up to his friend, both paws cupped over his mouth parts. “You’ll never be Jon Bon Jovi!”

Iona, who was seated next to him, just burst out laughing at the bear’s remark, doubling over as she struggled to keep the slice of pizza she was just lifting to her mouth from falling out of her hand. “You’re so harsh, Freddy!” she scolded him, still grinning however as she playfully nudged him in the side.

“Oh, come on! Does he look bothered to you?” Freddy protested as he gestured up to the rabbit who still belted out atrociously up on the stage to the song, seeming not to have heard him.

Watching the spectacle before her, Iona just laughed and shook her head, finally taking a bite from her pizza as she tapped her foot against the floor to the beat, just as she had been doing these past couple of hours.

Chica, who was leaning against the table just next to them, finally decided to help herself to one of the cupcakes. Taking one from the pile behind her, she opened her beak wide as she took a bite from it. After a few chews, she swallowed her mouthful, but just as she did, she suddenly froze, a look of worry suddenly showing in her eyes. Freddy and Iona both noticed this out the corner of their eyes though just as they turned to face the chicken, the half-eaten cupcake dropped from her hand to the floor as her body was suddenly racked by a violent electrical jolt that shot through her.

“Are you alright?” asked Iona in concern, standing from her seat and dashing towards her friend. 

Chica didn’t respond at first. For a few seconds, she just stood there with her hand over her chest, eyes staring into space with a look of surprise. She quickly recovered however when she looked down at the guard, closing her eyes and bursting into a fit of giggles.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” she laughed. “I don’t know what the heck that was, but I think I’m okay now.”

Freddy glanced down to the cupcake that had landed at Chica’s feet before looking back up at her and shook his head, now understanding what had caused her sudden but brief fit. “I told you not to, you stupid bird!” he chided her, unable to keep himself from smirking.

“What, do you honestly expect me to wear something like this and then not actually stay true to it?” protested Chica, pointing to the bib around her neck with the large “LET’S EAT!!!” sign printed across her chest.

“YEEEAAAAH!!!” Bonnie suddenly cried out, cutting off his friends’ banter with one paw raised in the air, still making that “Rock on!” gesture as the song finally came to an end. Then, finally opening his eyes, he looked down to see them all just standing and sitting by the tables, looking back up at him. “Hey, what gives!?” he demanded. “Why am I the only one up here that’s doing any singing or dancing!? Lighten up, dudes! It’s a party! C’mon, get up here!”

“But Bonnie, I can’t dance,” Iona told him, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

“What do you think this is, an Andrew Lloyd Webber performance?” the rabbit retorted down to her, still grinning as the next song began to play. “You don’t gotta choreograph or improvise anything impressive. Just get up here and let your body loose. Just go crazy and don’t think about what it is you’re doing! Let your body do what _it_ wants to do!”

As he said all this, Bonnie stepped down from the stage, grabbed the guard by the wrist and literally pulled her up onto the stage, all before she even knew what was going on.

“But I -” Iona began hesitantly.

“Come on, I insist!” Bonnie cut her off. “Just dance! This ain’t _The X-Factor_! No one’s gonna judge you if you suck! Come on, girl! Don’t you know how to party?”

For a few seconds, Iona just awkwardly stood where she was, listening to the music blaring out from the speakers around her. Hearing how catchy it was, she was inexplicably overcome with a sudden surge of confidence as she smiled over at her rabbit friend. 

“Oh, alright then!” That being said, the guard began bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet in time with the music, pushing her arms out from her sides in turns like she was punching the air.

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” Bonnie cheered her, clapping his paws. He then turned to look down at the others who still remained on the dining floor. “And that goes for the rest of you too! Come on, this party’s for _all_ of us after all!”

For a few seconds, Freddy, Chica and Foxy simply exchanged glances between each other before Freddy shrugged and he and the others looked back up to the rambunctious rabbit. 

“Alright, fine,” he said with a smirk. Turning back to the others, he told them, “Come on, guys.”

No more words were said and the remaining three robots climbed up onto the show stage as they too began to pull off some basic but some pretty funky dance moves of their own.

Once it finally hit her what was going on, the whole world seemed to go into slow motion around Iona as she suddenly found herself overcome by a feeling of pure euphoria. Still dancing and jumping to the music, she looked out towards the tables in the dark dining room barely illuminated by bright lights hanging over said tables and the rotating specks light from the disco ball. She couldn’t believe it; she was now up on the stage beside the animatronics. Many years ago, when she used to sit by one of those tables, watching the mascots as they sung and danced, she was but a mere spectator to their show. Back then, she often wished that somehow she could join them up on that stage and get the chance to _truly_ party with them, as if she was one of them. Now, before she even knew it, that fantasy had suddenly come true, as if by magic. Here she was, dancing alongside them, having the time of her life. The mascots had accepted her as their friend, part of their family, and had granted her an opportunity she had always dreamt of, an opportunity she knew then she’d have to be crazy to pass up. Her duty as the night guard completely forgotten, all that mattered to her now was an amazing night she’d be spending with her buddies, one she was sure she wasn’t going to forget. 

And yet, she was still unaware that this wouldn’t be the _only_ surprise this night would bring her.

_~*One hour later*~_

Soon, Iona began to feel out of breath, her heart was thumping wildly in her chest and a thick layer of sweat had formed on her skin, dripping down her forehead and gluing her hair to her face. She had been having such a good time, but she knew she had to take a break now, even if it was just a short one. It was funny, at first she thought she could’ve danced all night like the animatronics could. Though she remembered now that unlike them, she would eventually run out of energy and get tired.

“Phew! Boy, am I bushed…” she puffed out, removing her security cap and wiping the sweat from her forehead. As she spoke, her voice was hoarse and she finally noticed that her throat felt raw from all the singing she had been doing as well as dancing. “I need something to drink.”

“Oh, sorry!” Chica called after her as the guard stepped down from the stage. “I didn’t think to bring through any soda pops!”

“No, that’s okay!” Iona called back as loud as she could without straining her throat any further, holding a hand up dismissively as she walked across the dining room. “I think water’s the best thing anyway!”

Reaching the doors to the kitchen, she pushed them open and stepped in. Noticing how pitch black the room was, she fumbled her hand about the wall beside one of the walls to find the light switch. Very quickly, she found it and flicked it, instantly illuminating the kitchen in bright light. Iona squinted her eyes as she walked across the room towards the cupboard, fighting not to close them against the sudden brightness which now bruised them. Finally reaching the cupboard, she opened one of the metal doors and picked out a glass, taking it over to the sink. She turned on the faucet, rinsing the glass out a few times before filling it at last and taking a huge swig. When she swallowed, she let out a big satisfied sigh as the cool liquid soothed her sore vocal cords as it slipped down her throat, even if just a little.

Out in the main dining room, the music continued to play, but it was muffled by closed doors. She heard it clearly again for a couple of seconds however when they swung open and none other than Freddy stepped in. “Hey, you okay?” he asked her.

“Hm?” Iona turned to see the bear walking towards her, a look of mild concern in his eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered him casually, her voice still husky. “I just needed a little break is all.” She took another sip of water.

“Ah,” Freddy noted with a nod.

“Oh, I meant to tell you before,” she croaked. “I finally let my family know that I work here now.”

Freddy’s face lit up. “Oh, you did?” he asked with a smile. “What did they say?”

“Well, they seemed a little uncomfortable with it at first,” she answered him, taking yet another drink from her glass. “But I told them everything you said I should and they accepted it. They were even keen to support me in doing whatever made me happy.”

“You see?” he beamed as he walked over to her, slapping an encouraging paw on the guard’s shoulder. “What did I tell you? Nothing to worry about!”

“Yeah, you were right, Freddy,” replied Iona, returning her friend’s smile. “To tell you the truth, I actually feel kinda stupid now for having worried about it at all.”

Freddy shook his head as he chuckled softly. “No, there’s no need,” he simply told her, patting her back gently. “Everybody has moments when they feel anxious about the smallest things. That’s just human nature.”

Hearing that last sentence, Iona gave Freddy a puzzled look, tilting her head to the side and raising an eyebrow. “Human nature?” she repeated. “No offence, but that sounds kinda weird coming from a robot. And a bear, too boot.”

At this remark, Freddy just looked at Iona for a few seconds, a look of sadness seeming to form in his eyes, before turning a way slightly, letting out a small sigh.

“Freddy?” asked Iona hesitantly, suddenly concerned that she may have unintentionally hurt her friend’s feelings.

The bear quickly snapped out of it however, turning back to face the guard, his smile having returned to his face as he shook his head. “It’s just something that I observed many times in all the people that have come in and out of this restaurant over the years,” he simply told her.

“Oh,” Iona responded, not quite sure she was completely convinced by his answer.

“Anyway,” said Freddy, seemingly keen to change the subject as soon as possible. “Ready get back to the party?”

“Oh, yeah!” piped Iona before taking one last gulp from her glass and placing it into the sink. “Yeah, I think I’ve got my energy back now, but I think I’d better lay off the singing for the rest of the night though.”

“Good idea,” agreed Freddy as he and Iona began to walk towards the kitchen door together, his paw still on her shoulder. “Shame, really. I think you have a rather lovely singing voice.”

Blushing slightly, Iona just giggled softly. “Thanks,” she said. “But I really don’t think I can sing anywhere near as good as you can.”

Freddy just smiled at that. “Thank you,” he replied. “But really, I think your voice is beautiful.”

Iona’s blush grew a deeper shade then, but that didn’t stop her from just looking hard at the bear. “Freddy, are you flirting with me?” she asked, unable to stop the hint of a smirk that was pulling at the ends of her lips.

Freddy returned his friend’s stare with his own before letting out a laugh. “Really, Iona?” he said with a grin. “Merely complimenting you on your singing automatically equals flirting? How on earth did these funny thoughts get into your head anyway?”

“It’s called a joke, Freddy!” Iona protested. “Geez! You know, now that I think about it, I actually agree with what Chica said before!”

Freddy just laughed again as he pushed open one of the doors. “Come on, you,” he said as he and Iona stepped back out into the dining room.

Up on the stage, Bonnie, who was still dancing away with the others, turned his attention to Freddy and Iona when he heard them emerging from the kitchen. “I was wondering where you two had disappeared to!” he shouted over to them as they both made their way back towards the stage. “Started to get worried!”

“Everything’s fine, Bonnie!” Freddy called back to him, climbing back up on the stage. “Iona here just needed a short break is all.”

“Huh!” scoffed Bonnie as he looked down at Iona. “Where’s your stamina, human weakling!” he asked her teasingly.

“Shut up, Bonnie!” Iona retorted back at him with a laugh as Freddy took her hand and helped her back onto the stage. “Not my fault I happen to be a living creature that can run out of energy faster than a machine can!”

Foxy, who had previously been dancing with slow robotic movements, not caring if they had been disrupted by the occasional twitching of his body, had watched Iona until Freddy helped pull her back onto the stage.

“ _Way-hey-ey-ey-ey, and up she rise-e-e-e-es, way-hey and u-u-u-up she-e-e-e rises_ ,” he sang as he clapped his clawed hand and hook together as soon as the guard was back on her feet, his pirate shanty clashing horrifically with the pop song that played loudly around them. “ _Way-ay-ay-ay-hey and up she ri-i-i-ises e-e-e-e-early in the morni-i-i-i-in’!_ ”

Hearing this, Iona just looked at the fox, a hand on her hip and her eyebrow raised. “For real, Foxy?” she asked, still unable to keep herself from smirking.

“Oh, quit whining and keep dancing!” said Chica, slapping a feathered hand on Iona’s shoulder.

“Fine, if you insist,” grinned Iona as she returned to her basic bouncing about on the spot, rocking her hips to the fast tempo of the song and thrusting her fisted hands out before her, completely losing herself in the music once more.

“WHOOOOOO YEAH!!!” yelled Bonnie over the music. “PARTY LIKE IT’S 1984!!!!”

“Bonnie, this song was only released earlier this year!” Freddy chided him, though he too kept on with his slow swaying and snapping his fingers as he waved his arms to the side.

“PARTY LIKE IT’S 1984!!!” Bonnie yelled again, pretending not to have heard his friend.

“Party like it’s any year you want!” Iona shouted, intending to cease the argument in its tracks, bouncing on the balls of her feet in time with the music and clapping her hands in the air every few beats. “This night _is_ for all of us after all!”

“Well said, Iona!” agreed Chica, lightly swaying her hips and shaking her fisted hands to the side as if she were playing the maracas.

That being said, everyone soon began to loose themselves in the music once more, throwing away all consciousness of where they were and what they were doing, surrendering all control over their bodies and just letting them do whatever they pleased as they continued to just dance away. Very quickly, they all lost track of time, caring about nothing else except how much fun they were having. 

Many minutes, perhaps even one or two more hours, passed before Foxy, whose dancing was still racked by the twitching of his broken body, accidentally swung his hook too close to Iona’s face without realising it. The guard saw it coming at the very last second and managed to jump a little to side, avoiding being struck in the face by it in the nick of time. Unfortunately, she landed with only the heels of her shoes on the floor and before she could steady herself, she spun around too quickly and her body began to lean out too far over the stage. Panicking suddenly, she frantically began to wave her arms in a desperate attempt to regain her balance, but it was no use. She let out a scream, which she herself could barely hear over the loud music, as she was quickly aware of herself beginning to fall backwards, her security cap falling from her head and sailing downward, landing on one of the tables in between a couple of party hats.

Iona, however, hadn’t kept falling. It seemed that the very instant she began to tumble back, something had grabbed her by the wrist, leaving her suspended in mid-air at an odd angle. After a few seconds, she was yanked back upright so quickly that yet again, she didn’t have time to regain her balance before she found herself falling forward. On her way, she caught a brief glimpse of a certain bear before falling into a brown, furry body, the soft, silky fabric acting as an effective cushion for her. For a moment, she remained there completely stunned, her limp body leaning against Freddy Fazbear. He had caught her in his large, bulky arms and continued to hold her smaller form close to him to keep her from falling any further.

“Phew, glad I caught you there,” said Freddy, relief evident in his voice. “You alright?”

Snapping out of her stunned trance, Iona stood up to her full height, placing both hands against Freddy’s chest for balance but not pulling away from him, and looked up at him. She too breathed out a short sigh of relief before she answered with a smile, “Yeah, I am now. Thanks.”

“No problem,” the bear told her, nodding his head.

Just then, as she stood there looking up at her friend, still leaning against him a little, a very unexpected change suddenly began to come over her. Staring into those soft blue eyes that continued to gaze down at her, Iona quickly found herself becoming entranced by them. The world around her seemed to slow down again and it was as if the music had also faded into silence as she was then and there aware of nothing else except the animatronic before her. She felt as though her breath had been taken away, her heart was beating rapidly in her chest and a strange but rather pleasant warmth slowly began to spread out from her chest through her entire body. Said warmth was quickened slightly when she felt Freddy suddenly tightening his arms around her waist, holding her closer to him than he had been before.

Iona gasped lightly at the feeling and it was then that she finally saw the intensity in the bear’s eyes from which she was unable to look away. Her own eyes widened slightly, another realisation hitting her at that moment; was _he_ feeling this too? Iona’s heart quickened at the very idea and she felt, as she remained locked in the bear’s gaze and embrace, like there was nowhere else she would rather have been. She didn’t know how or why this change had come over her, but neither did she care. The two remained as they were, frozen in time as they continued to stare deeply into each other’s eyes. Unconsciously, Iona tightened her grip on the fabric of Freddy’s fur.

Finally, their awed stillness was broken when Freddy slowly began to lean down towards Iona. The guard’s eyes fluttered closed as the bear slowly closed in on her and even began to lean up towards him. Freddy’s own eyes slowly slid closed as his mouth was just about to cover Iona’s.

Suddenly, he felt something pressing against his mouth, stopping him. Instantly snapping back into reality, Freddy’s eyes shot open and he looked down at Iona, her face flushed bright red and her eyes wide, showing that same surprise he himself was now feeling. In that moment, a rather shocking realisation came to him; where he and Iona… about to _kiss_!?

That same realisation had also come to Iona and the moment it did, she pushed away from Freddy as fast and as hard as she could. The bear didn’t exactly protest, allowing his arms to fall limp by his side as he released the guard from his embrace, continuing to stare in stunned silence as Iona quickly stepped down from the stage and began to run across the dining floor until she disappeared into west hallway. 

The other animatronics had previously been too busy dancing to notice what was going on between Freddy and Iona. They stopped however and quickly shifted their attention back to Iona when she jumped down from the stage and they too watched in utter confusion as she fled, wondering what had caused her to do so. Once she had gone, they all turned to Freddy who was staring hard down towards the dining floor, his whole body completely stiff as he refused to move, speak or even look at his friends.

“What the… what just happened?” asked Bonnie.

Freddy didn’t respond, just remained frozen in place like he was made of stone.

“Freddy?” asked Chica, her tone showing more concern.

Still no movement or sound from the bear, and it occurred to the others that his stance made him look somewhat uptight, with both paws balled into fists. They were then afraid to say any more to him and for a moment, they all remained where they were, staring at their friend, hoping he would move or at least acknowledge to their questions. 

Soon however, the sound of approaching footsteps coming from the other end of the dining room caught their attention and they once again looked up to see Iona reemerging unexpectedly from the corridor opposite to the one she had gone through just a couple of minutes ago. She carried her coat in both arms and she too kept her face turned away from the group, refusing to look up towards them as she quickly made her way through the room amongst the dining tables. She was walking as fast as she could without running as if she suspected something sinister might’ve been following her. On her way, she took her keys out of her pocket and once she reached the double glass doors, she slid them into the lock, turned them and stepped outside. Closing the doors behind her, she locked them once more, again without looking up at her friends, turned and marched away from the doors, disappearing into the night.

For a few seconds, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy just stared towards the doors through which Iona had left, blinking in confusion from what they just saw.

“Why did she leave so early?” asked Bonnie, astonished.

“Yeah, it’s nowhere near six o’clock yet,” agreed Chica.

At that moment, Freddy finally came back to life as he turned and headed towards the back of the stage, still not looking at his friends. Before any of them could open their mouths to speak, he pulled back one of the red velvet curtains and knelt down. He grabbed both plugs for the speakers and yanked them out at once, causing the loud music to stop and the restaurant to be plunged into absolute silence.

“Hey, what gives!?” cried Bonnie, stepping towards Freddy.

“Party’s over,” said Freddy coldly, still not looking at them. Then, motioning to the many pizzas and cupcakes which still remained uneaten on the dining tables, he added, “Everybody clean up that mess and get back to their positions now.”

“But, Freddy,” protested Chica.

“ _Now!_ ” shouted Freddy, finally looking up towards his friends, revealing the sternness on his face.

Startled as if by a sudden electric shock, they all jumped to attention and instantly did as they were told. Quietly muttering apologies and promises of immediate action, they all quickly got down from the stage and set to work, clearing away the food that had been left on the party tables. Freddy took a few seconds to try and calm himself after this sudden shock he’d had before he, sorry as he was to stop the party so abruptly, joined his friends in their reluctant task of cleaning up before returning to the stage early.

“Geez Louise!” muttered Bonnie under his breath, hoping that Freddy wouldn’t hear him. “What’s grinding _his_ gears all of a sudden?”

Chica, who stood right next to him as they both gathered up some of the pizza boxes, turned to face her rabbit friend and shook her head sadly. “I’ve no idea, Bonnie,” she whispered to him in reply. Then, glancing back towards the glass doors, she added, “I’m worried about Iona too. Whatever it was that happened back there, I’ve got a bad feeling it’s between her and Freddy.”

“We-e-e-e-e can try-y-y-y-y an’ find out wha-wha-wha-wha-what the problem i-i-i-i-is t’morrow night,” Foxy told them, also managing to keep his voice hushed despite his usual glitchy stutters as he picked up the large plate of cupcakes. “Fo-o-o-o-or now, le-le-le-le-let’s just fo-o-o-o-ocus on gettin’ the pla-a-a-a-ace cleaned up so that Fre-e-e-e-eddy doesn’t be-e-e-e-ecome any more anno-o-o-o-oyed than ‘e is no-o-o-ow.”

This having been agreed between them, all four robots just continued on with their task in silence, not daring to say another word to each other for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Livin' On a Prayer" (c) Bon Jovi


	13. Chapter 12: Love?

Lenny pulled up his car in the parking lot at the usual time the next morning. Feeling utterly miserable as usual at having to turn up for another long, dreary day at work, he stepped out of the vehicle and locked it before trudging reluctantly towards the pizzeria entrance. Taking out his keys, he unlocked the glass doors and stepped inside. Glumly, he made his way through the dark dining room, passing the stage where the three main animatronic mascots stood stock still in their usual positions and turned towards the west hallway. Slowly walking through the almost pitch black corridor, he eventually reached his office and unlocked the door to let himself inside. Setting one foot in however, something on the floor caught his eye and he looked down. A small piece of paper lay at his foot.

“Huh? What’s this?” he muttered as he bent down to pick it up. Taking a closer look at it, he saw that a message had been written on it. It read:-

_Had to finish work early last night. Started to feel a little unwell halfway through my shift. So sorry._   
_~Iona_

“Oh dear, I hope she’s okay,” he said quietly as he went over to his desk, still holding the note in his chubby hand. As he sat down, he then added, “I’d better give her a call to check up on her.”

He put Iona’s note into his pocket and reached over to the phone but paused instantly.

“Wait,” he told himself. “If she went home early, then she might be asleep by now. Hm…” He took a few seconds to think on this before shrugging his shoulders. “Ah, I guess I can always leave her a message. It’s not like she can’t check it when she wakes up.”

His mind now made up, he picked up the receiver with one hand and with the other retrieved his little brown leather notebook where he kept contact details for all his employees. Flicking through the yellowish pages until he found Iona’s number, he dialled in the appropriate digits and lifted the receiver to his ear. To his surprise, the phone only rang out a couple of times before clicking off and he heard his newest night guard answer in a groggy voice, “Hello…?”

“Hi, Iona. It’s Lenny,” the manager announced himself. “I got your note just now.”

“Oh, you did, huh?” responded Iona, her voice low and croaky. She really didn’t sound all that well at all.

Lenny’s heart sank at hearing this and he immediately said, “I’m sorry to hear that you’re unwell. And to be honest, you do sound a little tired. Did you get any sleep at all when you got home?”

“Uh… no,” Iona replied, as if unsure at first how to answer her boss’ question. “I had this really bad headache that kept me awake right through to daylight.” After she finished that last sentence, Lenny heard the guard bursting into a cough that sounded dry and painful.

“Right.” Lenny nodded his head in understanding. “Have you taken anything for it?”

“No, not yet,” she told him wearily. “But I will once I’ve had breakfast. It’s just a cold, Lenny. I’ll be alright.”

“Yes, of course you will,” he agreed hopefully. “I’m just sorry that you’re sick at all, and that you felt you had to leave work early because of it.”

“Are you gonna deduct this from my pay check?” she asked him.

“No, of course not,” Lenny reassured her, almost laughing as he shook his head. “That wouldn’t be fair. It’s not your fault that you’re ill. Plus, I know you would’ve stayed for the full shift if you weren’t.”

There was a brief moment of silence from the other end before the guard finally said huskily, “Thanks, Lenny,” and let out a loud sniff.

“No problem,” he replied. “I’ll let you go now and get some rest. I really hope you feel better soon.”

“Okay, talk to you later,” the guard answered weakly. “And thanks for checking up on me.”

“No problem,” smiled Lenny. “And do let me know when you feel well enough to come back to work.”

“Yeah, will do,” Iona answered hoarsely. “See you later.”

“See you later, Iona,” replied Lenny before hanging up the phone.

~

Placing the receiver back down on the phone, Iona sat back in her couch, dressed in pyjamas beneath a light turquoise dressing gown, her hair a tangled mess resembling a bird’s nest from hours of tossing about in bed and her eyes dark and baggy from lack of sleep, and puffed out a frustrated sigh. She felt bad for lying to her manager about why she had left work so early, even though she knew it was just a little white lie. Though she knew there was no way she could ever tell Lenny the _real_ reason why she had ended last night’s shift so prematurely. Apart from the exhaustion that resulted from being awake the whole night, the truth was, she felt absolutely fine. Well, physically, she felt fine. As far as her emotional state was concerned however, she was very confused and altogether freaked out by the thoughts and feelings that had been rushing through her these past several hours. Her heart had been trembling out of control in her chest and she’d felt as though butterflies had been flittering wildly, as if in a frenzy of hysterical panic in her stomach, almost to the point of making her feel genuinely sick after all. This was what had kept her awake since she got home.

_What is happening to me?_

Deep down, she knew the answer to that question all too well, but she was refusing to admit it to herself. The feeling wasn’t exactly new to her, having been in relationships before, even though none of them had turned out well for her in the end. But this time, it was different. It felt stronger, more real somehow, not like a mere infatuation that was certain not to last long. It was a longing, a desire to be with the one she loved for all time. Yet every time the thought had reregistered itself in her mind, she quickly shook her head, a vain and unsuccessful attempt to dispel it.

_This is absurd. I can’t possibly be falling in love with him! I just can’t!_

It was ridiculous. This was Freddy Fazbear she was thinking of after all, someone who wasn’t human. He was a bear. Not a _real_ bear of course, but a robot built to look like one. A mere animatronic mascot for a children’s pizzeria. She couldn’t possibly have feelings for the likes of _him_ , could she? Then of course, to her, he was more than just that. He was her best friend, and it wasn’t as if he was a mindless puppet controlled by pre-programmed systems. He had been built with artificial intelligence, which meant he had the ability to think his own thoughts and feel his own emotions, and to react to them independently. He was even capable of speech. Well, he had to be in order to sing for the children during opening hours. In a sense, he really was alive, not a dead machine that only moved when commanded to.

Iona also remembered that she did once had a crush on him when she was a child, but that was a long time ago and it was nothing but a childish fancy on her part. So for her to have feelings for him now as an adult just felt stupid and immature to her. Having a close friendship with him, as well as with the other animatronics too, would’ve been perfectly acceptable, especially since she worked there, not to mention during the night when the place was closed and everyone else had gone. Being in love with him however was a completely different kettle of fish altogether, and she knew it. She had always known that friendships and relationships were two very different things and that some circumstances might have worked well enough for one of them but not for the other. As far as robots were concerned for instance, she could very easily be friends with one, but she could never be his lover. It wasn’t the least bit logical and it just wouldn’t happen.

And there was no reason for her to be having these feelings either. What had happened between her and Freddy the previous night, that was just a one-time thing. Of course, the situation would’ve been ideal for a cheesy, clichéd romance movie. He had saved her from falling off the stage and potentially injuring herself in the nick of time. He had caught her in his arms and from how close she was to him in that moment, she had somehow felt compelled to stare deeply into his eyes, as he did hers. And she could never help but think that Freddy’s eyes, though made of plastic, were a particularly pretty shade of icy blue, so she couldn’t exactly be blamed for getting lost in them whilst he held her like that, could she? She just got lost in the moment, that was all. And a moment was all it could ever have been, for this was real life, not some corny, dated chick flick, and she knew that whatever she had felt in a mere few minutes couldn’t possibly be real.

That was why she had stormed out of the pizzeria the way she did. She had to get away from Freddy, away from the restaurant as fast as she could, desperately needing to get her thoughts back in order, to try and rationalise them all out in her head as soon as possible, before the situation got even more out of control. And she knew she could do that much better when she was at home, when she was by herself. Once she had slept on it. Things would’ve look better and made sense again in the morning, she knew they would’ve. Yet, why had they kept her awake after she had gotten home? And why was she still giving them so much importance, even now?

It was no use. It seemed that the harder she tried to convince herself that what she was feeling wasn’t real, that it was just intrusive thoughts that would pass soon enough, the bigger the feelings grew in her mind, in her heart. The more sure she was that she had indeed fallen for him.

She was still in that much shock from the whole thing that she felt she no longer had the strength to stand from the couch, that her body had been fused with it permanently. Yet somehow, she managed to force herself to stand and walk, her steps slow and shaky, to the counter that separated the sitting room from the kitchen area. Another sleepless night had left her feeling completely drained, but she figured there was no point trying to get any sleep now, not at this hour. Instead, she made herself a pot of strong coffee and decided she would go out today. A walk, she hoped, would help to clear her head a bit.

_I’d better burn off those cupcakes and slices of pizza I ate last night anyway._

~

Sadly the walk didn’t turn out to be quite so soothing as she had hoped. As she slowly made her way through the streets, her earphones in as she listened to the music on her iPod as usual, her mind and heart still raced with the thoughts and feelings that had been plaguing her all morning. At this point, they had started to frighten her a little, especially since the music that once played in her ears was completely blocked out by the war her head and heart were now battling without a foreseeable end. Her iPod was on shuffle and the only songs that _did_ register with her were love songs. Whenever one started to play, Iona would find herself listening very closely to the lyrics, imagining them being about her and Freddy, the artists singing from one’s perspective, addressing the other, depending on the singer’s genders. As she listened, she would unknowingly smile slightly to herself as she drifted away into a world of pure bliss. Though she would always quickly realise what she was thinking and instantly snap back into reality, skipping to the next song as she frantically tried to shake the thoughts from her mind, but without success.

Very soon, her inner crisis began to interfere with her concentration to her outside surroundings too. Sometimes she would be so lost in thought that she would not be looking where she was treading and end up tripping over some cracks in the concrete sidewalk, quickly catching herself before she could fall flat on her face. Other times she would accidentally bump into strangers as she passed them, instantly muttering frantic apologies as she quickly and awkwardly stepped away from them, never waiting to hear their responses. Worse still, she would, at times, step absentmindedly out onto the road before the light had turned green, not noticing an approaching vehicle until it blared its horn angrily at her, at which point she would finally see it at the last second and leap back, missing it by mere inches. A couple of times, the driver had shouted at her to watch it as they drove past her.

_I’m getting clumsy. That’s not good._

Eventually, during her walk, she bumped into yet another passerby. “Oh, my gosh! I’m so sorry!” she cried out as she stepped away from them.

“That’s quite alright, I wouldn’t worry about it,” spoke a polite female voice with a British accent that sounded very familiar.

Surprised, Iona paused the music on her iPod and took out her earphones, finally looking at the person standing before her. It was an older woman with blonde hair which hung from both sides of her head in bunches. She wore a bright blue sweater and black trousers.

Iona’s eyes blinked with recognition. “Ms. McLellan?” she questioned. Ms. McLellan had been a teaching assistant at Iona’s old kindergarten.

The older woman’s eyes lit up as she smiled brightly at Iona. “Iona Blackburn!” she answered cheerfully. “How nice to see you!”

“Yeah, I know! Pleasant surprise, right?” agreed Iona with a wide smile of her own.

Like Iona, Ms. McLellan wasn’t born in the US, as evident from her accent. But unlike Iona, it was likely that she had grown up in Britain since her accent hadn’t adapted to that of her new home like Iona’s had. Though the two had obviously been born in different provinces, Iona’s own birthplace being Glasgow, Scotland and Ms. McLellan herself having hailed from the south coast of England. However, given the origins of both their surnames, Iona wondered if they somehow shared the same vaguely Gaelic heritage. She also wondered what Ms. McLellan’s reasons had been for leaving the UK for the States in the first place. Growing up, her own parents had told her that they left Britain to get away from the tyrannical rule of the country’s prime minister at the time. Iona now pondered of that was why Ms. McLellan had left too.

“My, how you’ve grown!” marvelled Iona’s old teacher. “It’s been so long since I last saw you. How have you been lately?”

“Yeah, not too bad, thanks,” answered Iona. “My family moved out of town a couple of decades back, but I recently moved back here myself. How about you?”

“Alright, I suppose,” replied Ms. McLellan with a nod. “I’m still working at the kindergarten, would you believe?”

“Oh, you are?” asked Iona, genuinely surprised. “How’s that been going since I left?”

Ms. McLellan laughed quietly. “Well, you know,” she began with a light shrug of her shoulders. “Having to work with very small children can be pretty tiresome at times. Doing all that paperwork and preparing for parents’ evenings are always my least favourite parts too. But overall, it’s good.”

“I see,” said Iona, nodding her head in understanding.

“So what about you?” asked Ms. McLellan. “What are you doing with yourself these days?”

“Oh, not much,” answered Iona with a shrug of her own. “Only, since I moved back into town, I’ve been working night security at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.”

“Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza?” asked Ms. McLellan again, her smile brightening even more. “You mean that old children’s pizza restaurant? How nice! Do you enjoy working there?”

“Yeah, very much,” answered Iona enthusiastically. “They’re loads of fun.”

Ms. McLellan just looked at Iona in confusion. “They?” she repeated.

“U-uh…” Iona stammered awkwardly, instantly realising her mistake. “ _It_ … Th-the job… _It’s_ loads of fun.”

“Oh…” Ms. McLellan nodded, understanding now. “To be honest though, I’m surprised that place is still going after all these years.”

“Yeah, me too,” agreed Iona, scratching the back of her head. “Though since I got the job, I’ve understood it’s not doing as well these days as it did before.”

“I can’t imagine it would be,” said Ms. McLellan, shaking her head as her expression turned sad. “Not after… that incident.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Iona, looking away sadly. “The one with all those kids going missing?”

Ms. McLellan nodded. “That was awful, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” agreed Iona, turning back to face her. “I was there when it happened.”

Ms. McLellan then looked at Iona with shock. “Oh, my gosh, you were?”

Iona gave her a lopsided smile. “Well, I didn’t actually _see_ what happened to them,” she explained, hoping to give her former teacher some reassurance. “But I do remember almost being lured away with the kids by this guy in a rabbit suit, but then someone came and took me back to my parents just in the nick of time.”

Gasping softly, Ms. McLellan put a hand over her mouth. “Goodness me,” she breathed, still unable to believe what Iona was telling her. “That must’ve been scary.”

“Well, I _was_ pretty upset about having to be taken away from the restaurant so suddenly,” Iona told her. “I didn’t even know what was happening, and I never knew those kids had gone missing for years. I only just found out about it recently. Honestly, I think I was very lucky that day. Whatever it was that happened to them, I know it must’ve been horrible, and I had only narrowly escaped it.”

“Yes, indeed you _were_ very lucky,” Ms. McLellan agreed, her expression serious as she gave a single nod. Her smile then returning to her somewhat, she added, “But you’re still enjoying it in spite of it all, of course?”

“Well, yeah,” answered Iona, smiling again herself. “I don’t know if there’s a nicer way to put this, but that was a long time ago and I can’t let it affect me so much now.”

“No, you’re quite right,” agreed Ms. McLellan again. “Still though, I can’t help but feel sad for those children’s families.”

“No, me neither,” Iona concurred. Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw some movement from across the road which inexplicably caught her attention. Turning to face the source, she found herself looking at the movie theatre where a couple of men were hanging up a large poster promoting what was obviously a new upcoming romance flick. The two main characters were posed in a rather clichéd way, the male lead having lifted his female love interest up by the waist with her arms wrapped around his neck, both smiling sweetly at each other with their eyes half closed as they seemed to be leaning in for a kiss. As Iona looked over at the image on the poster, her mind slowly lured her into imagining herself and Freddy in that pose, causing her to feel slightly weak at the knees as her heart began to flutter lightly in her chest. Realising what she was thinking, she quickly forced herself back into the real world and swiftly averted her gaze from the poster. Now she was staring into space as the feeling of mortification slowly poured itself over her once more, having forgotten her current predicament whilst talking with Ms. McLellan.

“Is something wrong, Iona?” asked her old teacher, having obviously seen the shellshocked expression on the younger woman’s face.

Hearing Ms. McLellan’s voice, Iona looked back towards her, staring wide-eyed at her for a few seconds before she finally breathed out, “I… I’d better get going.” She forced a final smile at her as she began to turn, trying her best not to be _too_ rude about this sudden desire to depart. “It was nice to see you again. I’ll see you later maybe. Bye.”

“Bye-bye, Iona,” Ms. McLellan called back to Iona as the younger woman was quickly continuing her way through the street without looking back. “Lovely to see you again too!”

Without saying another word, Iona just kept on walking briskly along the sidewalk, wishing she had been more polite to Ms. McLellan when saying goodbye and leaving her. Wishing she wasn’t suddenly too nervous to part ways with her properly, that her eagerness to be alone again wasn’t so strong. That she wasn’t having these frightening thoughts and feelings in the first place.

_Oh God, this can’t seriously be happening to me._

~

That night, Iona turned up for work at the usual time, despite the lie she had told Lenny that morning about being sick. Ill health or not though, she was still reluctant to be back at the restaurant at present. The entire day, she hadn’t been able to get the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings of love for Freddy out of her mind. They had kept her awake since she returned home from her previous shift, her walk had done nothing to clear her head of them, and even keeping herself busy with her daily chores didn't do any good either. She’d tried everything, from cleaning her apartment, cooking her food, washing her dishes, doing her laundry, watching movies or TV, playing videos games, to even reading a book. It was no use. No matter what she did, nothing seemed to work in distracting her from what had been constantly running through her head these past twenty hours.

That was why, unlike most other nights, she was not looking forward to going back to work at all. It meant having to face Freddy, being stuck in that building with him for another full six hours. Oh, how she dreaded it, the awkward silence that would inevitably hang between them as she knew she would no longer be able to make eye contact with him or find the right words to say to him. She’d be too nervous and too uncomfortable in his presence to be able to have a normal conversation with him anymore, a thought that she really couldn’t stand.

And what if he noticed her sudden timidness? What if they _all_ did? They knew her all too well. They would know just how out of character it would be for her to instantly shy away from instead of greeting them and exchanging a few words with them as she usually did when entering the pizzeria. They would know something was wrong and would start to question her about it, another thing she absolutely dreaded. On her way to work, she had been wracking her brains for possible excuses to use, but nothing she came up with ever seemed valid or believable enough.

But what if she _didn’t_ have to face them? What if she just stayed in her office, even if just for a few nights to try and give herself more time to figure this all out, if indeed that was possible? Technically, she was supposed to remain in there for her entire shift anyway, since monitoring the cameras _was_ part of her job after all. The only reason she ever left it was because the animatronics were her friends and she loved spending time with them, being in their company. It was so much more fun than just sitting in that dusty, little room all night, flicking through those cameras and seeing the exact same things over and over again. But maybe what she needed now was a few nights alone. Should be easy enough to achieve, right? As they were her best friends, of course she would understand that they’d be concerned for her if they sensed something was amiss. But at the same time, she hoped they’d still respect her wanting some time to herself every so often, even though she got plenty of that at home.

And so her choice was made. She wasn’t going to spend this shift hanging out with the robots as she usually did. Instead, she would remain in her office where she would take some time alone to try and sort all these thoughts out in her head. She knew they could be nothing more than just intrusive thoughts which meant absolutely nothing, and that maybe the reason why she was stressing herself out over them so much was simply because she hadn’t allowed herself enough time to think it all over. But now she _had_ allowed herself that, and she would take all the time she needed to really consider what she believed she was feeling and try to rationalise it all.

_I just hope I really am overthinking this._

She felt a little nervous as she went up to the entrance of the pizzeria, taking out her keys as she went and then unlocking the doors as soon as she reached them. Quietly, she slipped inside and locked the doors behind her once more.

“Hey, Iona!”

Hearing her name, Iona turned and saw Bonnie and Chica both walking towards her, having stepped down from the stage.

“Oh, hi, guys,” she replied, not really looking at either of them as they reached her.

“Here,” said Bonnie, holding out her security cap to her. “You must’ve dropped this during the party last night. We kept it for you.”

“Oh, thank you so much,” she smiled, taking the hat from her friend and placing it back on her head. 

“Why did you leave so early last night?” asked Chica. “You seemed a little upset. Was something wrong?”

Hesitating, Iona finally stared hard at the robots in front of her. “I-I…” she trailed off, trying to think of a good enough excuse. Seeing them both staring expectancy back at her, her anxiety began to grow; she could never handle the pressure of having to think of something so quickly on the spot. And she really didn’t want to admit to any of them what was going through her mind right now, especially since the very object of those thoughts and feelings was still in the room with them. After a few seconds, she simply shook her head. “It was nothing, really. I’d, uh… I’d better get to my office.”

Without waiting for a response from any of them, she quickly turned and dashed off across the dining room, not even shouting a hello to Foxy as she passed Pirate Cove, before disappearing into the west hallway, headed straight for her office. Bonnie and Chica had both watched after her, just as puzzled now by the guard’s strange behaviour as they had been the night before.

“Something’s definitely bothering her,” said Chica, breaking the awkward silence. “What do you suppose it could be?”

“Beats me,” answered Bonnie, shrugging his shoulders. “She sure is acting funny, isn’t she? What do _you_ think, Freddy?”

As he and Chica both turned to face the bear in question, they saw that he had his face turned stiffly away as if refusing to meet their gazes. Instead of answering them, or even acknowledging them, he just stepped down from the stage and walked away, disappearing into the bathrooms. This left his friends feeling even more confused.

“Looks like Iona ain’t the only one that’s acting weird right now,” grumbled Bonnie, shaking his head slowly. “That’s _just_ what we need.”

“Hm…” sighed Chica sadly.

~

Iona had stayed in her office for the first few hours. It was during those hours that she just sat there by her desk, absentmindedly flicking through the cameras in a loop. Occasionally, she would find herself looking at the bathroom camera, where she saw Freddy leaning against the wall between the two entrances, at which point she would quickly flick to the next one. Here, she was feeling just as restless as she had sitting at home, trying so very hard to convince herself that her feelings couldn’t possibly be real and seeing the object of those feelings at any given time was the last thing she needed right now.

Twenty-four hours had passed since she they began, and they were no less wild now than they were then. Heaving out a frustrated sigh, Iona finally placed the monitor down on her desk and leaned forward, eyes closed and her elbows resting on the desk with her clasped hands against her face as if in prayer.

_This can’t be happening to me. It just can’t._

Soon, she heard footsteps coming up the west hallway towards her office, but she didn’t look up to watch for whoever it was or even open her eyes. She just remained in her stiff position as Bonnie stopped at the doorway, looking in towards the guard with concern in his eyes.

“Hey,” he spoke softly to her. “You okay?”

“Yeah…” answered Iona quietly, nodding her head slightly.

“You’ve been sitting back here for hours,” he told her. “What’s the matter?”

“I got a headache,” she simply replied, still refusing to tell him the _real_ reason for her isolating herself like this.

“Oh,” said Bonnie, blinking. “Don’t you got something to take for that?”

“Left it at home,” she muttered. “But I’ll be okay. I just need some peace and quiet right now.”

“Oh, I get it,” Bonnie responded, looking down towards the floor awkwardly, not sure if he believed his friend’s story. “You, uh… wanna be alone?”

Iona nodded again. “Yes,” she answered. “Please.”

Bonnie hesitated, staring back at the guard in confusion. “…Alright,” he finally said. At a loss as to what else to say to her, he turned and, with a final glance towards his friend, reluctantly made his way back down the hallway towards the dining room, where Chica and Foxy waited, watching him expectantly as he returned.

“Well?” asked Chica.

Bonnie shook his head glumly. “I don’t think she’s gonna come out again for the rest of the shift,” he told her.

“How-ow-ow-ow did she-e-e-e loo-oo-oo-ook?” asked Foxy.

“I don’t know,” answered Bonnie. “I couldn’t see her face. She kept it turned away from me. But she spoke very quietly. Almost like she didn’t wanna talk at all. You know, like she wanted to be left alone. She said she had a headache, but… something tells me that’s not the reason why she’s acting this way at all.”

“I can’t understand why she won’t talk to us,” murmured Chica, glancing worriedly behind Bonnie, towards the west hallway with its ever flickering lightbulb. “You don’t think it’s anything _we’ve_ done to upset her, do you?”

Bonnie shook his head again. “Somehow I doubt that very much,” he told her. Then, turning towards the bathrooms, he added, “And Freddy’s been acting the same way all night too. Whatever’s going on with the both of them, it’s clearly something only _they_ know about and therefore has nothing to do with _us_.”

“All the same,” said Chica. “I just wish there was something we could do to help them.”

“Well,” said Bonnie, shrugging uncertainly. “Hopefully it won’t be too long till things are back to normal.”

~

Unfortunately, things _didn’t_ go back to normal as quickly as any of them had hoped. Just as Bonnie predicted, Iona kept herself shut away in her office for the whole shift, never once setting foot outside it until 6:00 am when she had to go home. As she left the pizzeria, she didn’t even say goodbye to them, not even so much as a glance in their direction as she stepped out through the main doors. And she wasn’t the only one who had kept her distance all night either. Freddy too had remained cooped up in the bathrooms the entire night, only coming out when it was time to return to the stage, not saying a word or even looking at his friends.

The other three animatronics hoped that this mysterious drama would’ve cleared itself up by the following night. But just the same as the previous night, Iona showed up and went straight to her office, still refusing to talk to anyone or to come out again until her shift was over. Not only that, but Freddy continued to exhibit his own strange new behaviour also, seeming not to acknowledge Iona’s presence as he stepped down from the stage and walked away into the bathrooms, not answering his friend’s questions as he went. He too stayed in there the whole night until the time came to power down.

This had happened two nights in a row, and by now, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were all really beginning to worry. They knew _something_ was wrong with Freddy _and_ Iona, but finding out what it was proved to be easier said than done. Try as they would, not one of them could get anything out of either of their two friends who were now refusing to speak to them and insisted upon keeping themselves shut away in their respective hiding places like hermits. 

And not only were they both refusing to talk to them, but they also refused to talk to _each other_. That was the part that made the other three worry the most. Why wouldn’t Freddy and Iona, who had been such inseparable friends since she returned, even say a word to each other about what was bothering them? Could it really be something that was between the two them? Did they have an argument and had fallen out bitterly because of it? The other three sincerely hoped that that wasn’t the case. It would’ve completely ruined the magic that was the unity of the Fazbear family if two of them now hated each other. But if they _had_ fallen out, wouldn’t they then be complaining to the others about it?

The whole thing just didn’t make any sense at all, and that simply was because they had no idea just what was going on between Freddy and Iona. They had all three agreed between themselves to give their two friends some time to come to them on their own about it, but if it looked like things weren’t going to improve any time soon, they were just going to try to figure it for themselves. Not knowing was making them worried, frustrated and a little bit angry too. They really hated seeing both their friends behaving this way, like they had something to hide, and they knew that nobody here should ever feel like they’d have to hide anything from each other. If Freddy and Iona both had something that was bothering them, then Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were all going to find out what it was, one way or another, and they would do whatever they could to help them with it. Because they were all so more than just a group of friends, they were a family, and families should always be able to share their burdens with each other. Families should _always_ do whatever it took to help each other. No matter what, families always came first.

~

It was now Iona’s fourth night of work that week and the animatronics all waited patiently in their usual spots until she showed up, unlocking the doors and letting herself inside. Though before any of them had even stepped off the stage, the guard instantly dashed off through the dining room and disappeared into the west hallway, still not looking at her friends as she went, just as she had done the night before. Their attention was then turned to Freddy who, just like before, stepped down from the stage and walked as fast as his heavy legs could carry him towards the bathrooms, again refusing to talk or even look back at his friends as he too disappeared into the darkness.

“Okay,” Bonnie muttered irritably, folding his arms and thumping his foot tetchily against the stage floor. “This is getting ridiculous.”

“A-a-a-aye, that it i-i-i-i-is, Bo-o-o-o-onnie,” agreed Foxy, stepping out of Pirate Cove and staring with concern in his one visible eye in the direction Iona had gone. “No-o-o-o-ot knowin’ wha-wha-wha-what be ai-ai-ai-ailin’ yer frie-ie-ie-ie-iends, it be-e-e-e-e enou-ou-ou-ou-ough t’drive ye-e-e-e t’a lee-ee-ee-ee shore.”

“I heard that,” replied Bonnie with a nod. “Their not talking to each other is bad enough, but not talking to us either? How the heck are we supposed to deal with that, huh?”

Chica didn’t say anything, only stared off into the darkness of the east hallway ahead and frowned to herself. An idea came to her then. It was as clear to her as it was to the other two that neither Freddy nor Iona were going to come clean to any of them about whatever the problem was and that it would eventually be down to her, Bonnie and Foxy to try and get the truth out of them themselves. So what if she herself started by trying to have a girl-to-girl talk with Iona, leaving Bonnie and Foxy to confront Freddy about it? She smiled, confident that this technique just might work. She stepped down from the stage, which caught the two male animatronics’ attention.

“Chica?”questioned Bonnie as he watched the chicken walking around one of the tables. 

She didn’t answer him however as she picked up one of the chairs, holding it under a bulky arm and carried off it through the room, into the dark corridor towards the security office. Bonnie and Foxy just stared on after her in confusion. 

“Looks she’s gonna try and talk to Iona,” Bonnie guessed. “Think it’ll work?”

Foxy didn’t turn to face the rabbit. He simply gave a shaky shrug of his ragged shoulders. “Le-le-le-let’s hope so, la-a-a-a-ad.”

~

Iona sat miserably in her office, her head propped up in one hand. She puffed out what must've been the fiftieth frustrated sigh that night. This was absurd, she thought. A few days had passed, and with all her desperate attempts at logical thinking, she had been unsuccessful to reassure herself that she _wasn’t_ falling in love with Freddy at all. If anything, she had convinced herself even more that she had in fact fallen for him. Fallen deeper for him than for any other man before.

Putting a hand to her head, she rubbed her fingers hard against her forehead. She hated how she felt about him. Sure she may have had a crush on him before, but that sort of thing was normal for a child, not for an adult. That was what made it so unbearable. That and the fact that he was her best friend and she was sure that this sort of thing would ruin their friendship, maybe forever. She feared how awkward things would be between them should she ever let him see how she felt. And she really didn’t want any of the others to know about it either, hence her keeping herself locked up in her office the way she did.

But it had been three nights now, and she knew they must’ve sensed _something_ was up by now. It was only a matter of time before at least one of them would try to question her about it. When that were to happen, she hoped to God that it wouldn’t be Freddy. She couldn’t bring herself to imagine just how embarrassed she’d be after confessing her feelings to him. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something just told her that Freddy could never reciprocate her feelings and would be kind enough to be honest yet gentle to her about it. 

Yet the possibility of rejection wasn’t what frightened her so much. It was what could happen afterwards. She didn’t like thinking about it, and she hoped she was just overthinking it. Perhaps things would still be okay between her and Freddy. Perhaps his rejecting her would be a blessing in disguise and that the only reason her feelings were building up the way they were was because she’d kept them bottled up inside her for so long. Then once the truth was out and it turned out he didn’t feel the same way, she wouldn’t be heartbroken, but relieved. Afterwards, the feelings would eventually wear off on their own accord, like steam evaporating into thin air after gushing out of a fully boiled kettle. Then things would soon be back to normal and she and Freddy could continue on with their friendship, the way it was supposed to be.

_Please, God_ , she found herself thinking. _Please let that be the case._

Turning to look at the phone, she pressed a button to play back the fifth recorded message, laughing quietly to herself as she listened to the deep, distorted voice garbling to her. She felt like it pretty much summed up her current state of mind, with all her thoughts and feelings going haywire as she tried in vain to make sense of them all. 

“Yeah… sounds about right,” she muttered when the message had finished.

Suddenly, she heard the familiar sound of heavy footsteps coming up the east hallway towards her office and sighed again. So they had finally come to question her about why she was avoiding them all. Shaking her head, she listened as the sound grew louder until it stopped outside her door. She pressed the light button, illuminating the usually dark corridor and saw Chica peering in at her through the window, concern showing in her violet eyes.

“Hey, Chica…” she murmured, sitting back in her chair resignedly.

“Hi, Iona,” replied Chica softly. “Are you okay? You’ve been keeping yourself shut away in your office these past few nights and we’re all starting to get worried. Is something wrong?”

Iona turned away from her friend, a lopsided smile on her face as she shook her head. “No, Chica,” she said, not even trying to hide the fact that something really was wrong anymore. “Everything’s fine. I’m okay.”

Unconvinced, the chicken entered into the office, placing the chair she had taken from the dining room down beside Iona and took a seat. “You can tell me about it, you know,” she offered. “If it helps, I’m really good at keeping secrets. Even from Freddy.”

Turning back to face the animatronic, Iona looked at Chica, raising an eyebrow at her. “Freddy?” she asked, confused. “Why Freddy specifically?”

“Well,” Chica began, leaning forward slightly and clasping her feathered hands together, like a therapist about to give a clear diagnosis of their client’s condition. “Not only have _you_ been avoiding us all these past few nights, but we’ve also noticed that Freddy’s been acting the same way too. Like your insisting in staying in here, he goes into the bathroom and never comes out again until 6:00 am. So we’re kinda getting the impression that something happened between you two on the night of the party, something you’re both refusing to talk about. We’re worried you guys have maybe fallen out or something.”

Iona sighed again. Closing her eyes, she took a moment to consider her present situation. Here was Chica finally pressing her about her recent behaviour, and she had the gut feeling that she wouldn’t stop until she had gotten the truth out of her. She concluded there and then that it would be useless to try to lie to her any further. Difficult though it would be, she was just going to have to tell her the truth. Mustering up as much courage as she could, the guard took a big, deep breath as she thought of a way to begin her potentially embarrassing confession.

“You’re right,” she said at last. “Something _did_ happen between us that night. But no, we’ve not fallen out.”

“What then?” asked Chica again.

Iona shook her head again. “God, how do I even say this…?” she muttered under her breath, hoping against hope that her friend wouldn’t react _too_ negatively to what she was about to say. “It’s probably gonna sound weird. Crazy, even. But…” she trailed off, her mind screaming at her to just come out and say it. “I… I think I’m in love with him.”

With the truth finally out, an oppressive hush fell over the little office. A few seconds of awkward silence passed between the two females as Iona still refused to look up at her friend, while Chica herself just stared at the guard, head tilted and her eyes blinking.

“What’s so bad about that?” the chicken asked, finally breaking the silence.

Surprised by the seemingly nonchalant response, Iona looked back up at Chica in disbelief. “Come on, Chica,” she told her, almost chidingly. “You know things could never work between me and him.”

“But why not?” Chica questioned further.

Iona gave her friend an unimpressed stare. “Isn’t it obvious?” she asked. “He’s a robot bear, and I’m a living human.”

Chica simply shrugged her shoulders. “Still don’t see what the problem is,” she stated. “I mean, that didn’t exactly stop you before, did it? Don’t think that none of us ever noticed that blatant crush you had on him when you were a kid.” As she said that last sentence, Chica’s beak opened in what looked like a grin and a cheeky glint could be seen in her eyes.

Iona just looked at her then, a bit surprised. “Was it really that obvious?” she asked, blushing slightly.

Chica laughed softly. “Well, yeah,” she answered. “All the love and attention you gave him compared to the rest of us? We’d have to be dumb not to have noticed.”

“I guess so,” Iona agreed quietly. “Anyway, that was different. That was just your typical child’s crush. But I’ve grown up now. I can’t be having these feelings for a robot. Not now.”

“But he’s more than just a robot,” Chica pointed out. “He’s your best friend, right?”

Iona let out another sigh. “Yeah,” she said. “And that’s just another reason why I can’t love him. What if he doesn’t like me back and then our friendship, which I treasure above anything else in this world, is never the same after that?”

“Oh, I don’t think _that’s_ likely, Iona,” Chica tried to reassure her. “In fact, seeing him acting the same way you have these past few nights, I’m willing to bet that maybe he's struggling with some new feelings for you too. And I can’t say I’d blame either of you two either. For a bear, I myself have always thought he was rather handsome. Isn’t that what you thought too, all those years ago?”

“That and how beautiful his voice always sounded, especially when he sang,” answered Iona. “And his polite, gentlemanly demeanour was another reason for me to be so drawn to him.”

“You see?” smiled Chica. “There are so many good reasons to love him. And, despite all the people he’s killed, he has a great passion for justice, and he cares for you very much. Isn’t that what’s the most important thing after all?”

“It just wouldn’t work, Chica,” Iona insisted sadly. “In spite of all his attractive features and redeeming traits, in spite of the close friendship I have with him, at the end of the day, he _is_ still a robot. I mean, no offence to you because I know you’re a robot too, but the bottom line is humans and robots just can’t have romantic relationships with each other. Yeah, they can be friends, of course they can. I’ve managed it well enough with all four of you, but relationships are different. Just because one thing works for a specific situation doesn’t mean the other thing can.” She leaned forward onto her desk, resting her head in both hands now. “Why am I having these feelings, Chica? If I know it’s not possible, why can’t I convince my heart of what my brain’s already telling me. Why can’t the feelings just stop simply by me telling myself that it could never be?”

“Maybe that’s why feelings are what they are,” Chica offered once more. “Because we can’t control what we feel about something or someone. And love especially is an impossible emotion to control.”

“It’s just that I’ve been in love before, you know?” said Iona. “Or… at least I thought I was, when I dated those other guys. But I didn’t try convince myself then that I couldn’t love them, because I really believed that things _could_ work with them. I had hope with them.”

“So you’re afraid of being hurt again, is that it?” asked Chica.

Iona shook her head. “No,” she answered. “Because I already know that Freddy and I could never be together. So there’s no point trying to pursue it, right?” She exhaled another said sigh. “So maybe I’m just having these feelings because I’m desperate, because I’m craving a specific kind of affection I’ve always wanted but have never been able to get from any of the guys I’ve been romantically involved with. Pretty pathetic, huh?”

“Iona, sweetie,” Chica said softly, taking one of the guard’s smaller hands into her own large ones. “There’s nothing about this to feel scared or ashamed about. And I really don’t think desperation plays a part in this at all. I think you’re just now seeing Freddy with new eyes, and that’s perfectly normal, especially since you’ve grown up now. Yeah, there are obvious differences between you two, like his being a robot and you being a human, but why should such petty differences get in the way of your happiness? All that matters is what you two share from deep inside. From in here.” She pointed to the spot on Iona’s chest where her heart was situated. “And you two have such great chemistry with each other, I’ve seen it plenty of times. And we’ve already covered everything that Freddy has in his favour, we needn’t list them again. As for yourself, since we last saw you all those years ago, you have grown into a very beautiful woman. More importantly, you have a wonderful personality. You’re kind, you’re loving, you’re smart, you’re compassionate and you also share Freddy’s desire for more justice in this world too. Honestly, I think you two are perfect for each other, so I really don’t see any reason why you _shouldn’t_ be together.”

Iona took a moment to consider Chica’s words. Still she tried to convince herself that a romance between her and Freddy could never be possible, regardless on whether she wanted it or not. Though her friend _did_ have a point. Despite their being two completely different beings altogether, there was no denying that she and Freddy shared a really close bond, a bond that had continued to grow stronger and stronger with each passing night since she returned. So she really shouldn’t have been all that surprised that their relationship would eventually reach the point of becoming romantic. And she had been trying so hard to tell herself these past few nights that the idea of loving a robot such as him was preposterous and such a relationship could never work. Yet for all her hard thinking and inner arguments with herself, she had been unable to shake the new feelings which had grown all the more stronger the more she tried to force them away. 

She shook her head again. “It’s just… a little bit weird, that’s all.”

“Well, love _is_ weird,” stated Chica, nodding. “And in the end, isn’t that what makes it so special? The fact that it can overcome any obstacle or defy any boundary of what’s normal? Isn’t that what makes it so beautiful?”

That officially settled it. Iona had all but presented Chica with every single argument she’d already thrown at herself, only for them all to be countered with reasoning which only further proved that it wasn’t what she was feeling that was irrational, rather her reaction to it. There really was no getting around it then, she had unexpectedly fallen deeply in love with Freddy Fazbear.

“I guess you’re right,” she said, finally accepting the truth. Surprisingly, she felt all the better for it. 

Reassured now that her situation really wasn’t all that bad after all, Iona smiled towards her friend.

“Thank you, Chica,” she breathed, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around the animatronic’s large, bulky body. “I can’t say how much you’ve really helped me tonight.”

“No problem, Iona,” answered Chica, having already returned the guard’s embrace. “Always happy to help a friend with their struggles.”

Iona pulled away from Chica and her expression turned slightly more serious. “All the same, I don’t think I should be too quick to confess anything _just_ yet,” she said. “But I do agree it’s time we stopped avoiding each other. So starting tomorrow, I think we should both at least get our friendship back on track and see where it goes from there.”

“I think that’s a very good idea,” agreed Chica enthusiastically.

“And hey,” Iona went on. “Even if the time comes that I do tell him and he doesn’t feel the same, no big deal, right?”

“No, I suppose not,” replied Chica, shaking her head.

“Hey,” a voice suddenly spoke behind Iona. 

Turning, she and Chica both shifted their attention to the opposite doorway where Bonnie and Foxy both peered in at them curiously. 

“What are you two conspiring about back here?” asked Bonnie in a tone of mock suspicion.

“Oh, nothing, nothing at all,” Chica answered with a slight giggle before lightly patting Iona’s shoulder. “We were just having a little bit of girl talk.” She turned her gaze back to the guard. “Right, Iona?”

“Hm?” For a second, Iona just looked at the chicken in confusion. “Yeah,” she piped, nodding her head as she turned back to her male friends. “Yeah, that’s right. Girl talk.”

“Ugh!” gagged Bonnie, eye screwed in disgust. “Girl talk! I can’t stand that kind of stuff!” He turned back towards the corridor. “C’mon, Foxy,” he said, motioning for his pirate friend to follow him. “Let’s ditch this joint.”

“Ri-i-i-i-ight behind ye, Bo-o-o-o-o-onnie,” Foxy answered as both he and Bonnie stepped away from the door, disappearing out of sight.

Chica giggled quietly again as she watched the male animatronics walk away and Iona turned back to face her. “Good idea,” she said, catching the chicken’s attention once more. “Promise me you won’t tell any of them about this. At least not just yet anyhow.”

“You have the word of Chica the Chicken,” the robot spoke proudly as if making a solemn oath. “And that is nothing if not sacred.”

Satisfied with this answer, Iona nodded. “Thanks,” she said, smiling.

~

In the bathroom, Freddy was leaning back against the wall between the male and female entrances. His arms were folded across his chest and he heaved a deep, sad sigh as he stared blankly down towards the tiled floor. 

For the past few nights, since the incident on the night of the party, he had been unable to get Iona out of his mind. All he could think about was how incredibly beautiful she’d looked then. Her long brown hair framing her face so perfectly without the security cap that was usually on her head since she’d started working at the restaurant. How she stared up at him with those bright green eyes which sparkled like emeralds in the lights of the stage as he held her in his arms. Since then, the bear had been unable to get the image, so clear and vivid, out of his head, no matter how hard he wished he could because of how wildly it made something inside of him flutter. It seemed that the harder he tried to fight it, the stronger the image grew, as did the feelings it brought to him.

_This is impossible_ , he thought. _I can’t possibly be falling in love with her._

There were a few reasons why he believed he shouldn’t be. For one, she was his best friend, the only human being in the world he still trusted and respected, the only one he still cared about. He treasured his friendship with her more deeply than anything else in the world. So for him to start having these feelings for her, he feared that might potentially lead to the destruction of that friendship, something he couldn’t stand to think about. Also, he had known her when she was a child, which made him all the more uncomfortable with the idea that he could ever feel anything romantic for her, something he never once imagined he ever would. And lastly, the most painfully obvious reason of them all, she was a living, breathing human being and he himself was nothing more than a robotic mascot built for the sole purpose of entertaining children in this pizzeria. Such a relationship, he felt, could simply never be possible. Sure he had always guessed that Iona had had a crush on him when she was a kid, but she was an adult now, so she must’ve grown out of such childish fancies surely.

Yet despite all the reasons he tried to tell himself why he couldn’t be falling for Iona, there was also no denying the reasons that would suggest he _was_ falling for her all the same. Not just because of the close bond they shared which seemed to grow stronger with each passing night since she got the job as the restaurant’s night guard. For the past eighteen years, Freddy had felt nothing but anger and sorrow because of the atrocity that was committed here and Iona’s presence had been a calming one since she returned, always seeming to comfort him and cheer him up whenever she was around. Always seeming to make his dark nights brighter, even if just a little, pushing away the black rain clouds of sadness and bringing back the sunshine into his heart. A beacon of happiness in his dark little world.

But above all this, it was everything about Iona as a person, especially as she was now as an adult, that made her such a pleasure for him to have in his life. Her kindness, her intelligence, her maturity and her inner strength. The bravery she showed when she confronted him and his friends after finding out about all the past guards they’d killed, despite the obvious distrust she’d had of them then. The compassion she showed Foxy when giving him that pep talk, when coaxing him out from behind the curtains in Pirate Cove. Her passion for justice when finding out about the murdered children, wishing nothing more than for the perpetrator to answer for his heinous crime. Her loyalty to those she loved and what she believed in, her determination to see this restaurant return to the safe and fun haven for children as it once was, the way it was supposed to be.

Had she really been that same adorable little girl who smiled, cheered and bounced up and down in her seat whenever he and the others performed on stage or who ran around the arcade like the excitable little tyke she was? Was she really that same shy and vulnerable child he had to rescue the last time _he_ came into the restaurant, the day _he_ committed that unspeakable crime? It seemed so hard to believe, for she had now grown into a very beautiful, kind-hearted, intelligent, mature and strong woman who was more than capable of taking care of herself. In general, she was just an all round amazing person, one who Freddy was very glad to have the fortune and privilege of knowing. So really, it should’ve come as no surprise at all that he would eventually fall in love with her after her return. It was just so unexpected, the moment he caught her in his arms on the night of the party had simply caught him off guard.

The fact that he didn’t start to have these feelings for her until then made him feel somewhat better about it, remembering that he never once had any inappropriate thoughts about her as a child. Back then, she had been nothing more than the child he felt the most fondness for in return for the great affection she always showed him above anything else in the restaurant. He had always adored her happy, playful nature, but now that she had reached adulthood, he was seeing a completely new version of her, and that version was the one that was attracting him to her now. Nothing wrong or sinister about that, he supposed. Eighteen years ago, he had simply adored Iona the child. It was only now that he found himself falling in love with Iona the _woman_. He knew of course that they were the same person, and yet they were so very different too, but that was the one thing about his dilemma that made it acceptable.

Though despite all of that, there was still the obvious fact that she was a human and he was an animatronic bear. Which meant that such a relationship, for all the chemistry they both shared, for how close a friendship he had with her, for all the factors there were which would’ve made any other romance acceptable, could never be possible. And yet, these past few nights, no matter how hard he tried to tell himself that he couldn't have been falling for her, the stronger the feelings grew within him. 

This had been his reason all along for hiding himself away in the bathrooms, his usual place of refuge, well away from Iona and the others, refusing to even speak to them. His feelings continued to grow so strong and so quickly that he knew just how obvious they would be if he tried to talk to her, or even if he so much as looked at her. No way could he face letting any of them know how he felt. No way could he face possible rejection from the guard. Because no way would she ever feel for him now as an adult as she once did as a child. There was the chance of her becoming uncomfortable with him if she knew, having known him from as far back as her childhood. She might quit her job and never want to have anything to do with him or this place again. He simply could not stand the idea of that happening, losing his closest friend simply by confessing his feelings to her.

Yet what made this whole situation even worse, was that he had been hiding himself away from the others for so long that they would surely have noticed his unusual behaviour by now. Not knowing what could’ve caused this sudden change in him, they would eventually come and question him about it. How could he ever cope with that? Could he lie to them and tell them nothing was wrong, that he simply had a lot on his mind? Would they really believe that? If so, for how long? Could he really avoid telling them the truth? What if they came to him before he had the chance to find a valid enough excuse? Or before he was ready to tell them the truth, if indeed he would ever be ready? It was all just too much for the poor old bear, it all seemed so hopeless, like no matter where he turned, there really was no way out. He had been trapped in the tender trap.

_God, why did this have to happen to me?_

“Hey, Freddy,” came Bonnie’s cheerful voice, turning Freddy’s attention to him as he and Foxy entered into the bathrooms, both looking at him with concern in their eyes.

_And there it is_ , Freddy thought to himself resignedly, before forcing a light smile in their direction. “Hey, guys,” he replied quietly. “Where’s Chica?”

“Oh, she’s in the security office with Iona,” answered Bonnie. Then, with a hint of disdain, he added, “They were having some girl talk in there. Nothing that would interest us guys.”

“I see,” Freddy breathed, nodding slowly as he turned away from his friends.

“Somethin’ ai-ai-ai-ailin’ ye, Fre-e-e-eddy?” asked Foxy, seeing the sadness in the bear’s eyes.

“Yeah, you’ve been hiding yourself up in here these past few nights,” Bonnie commented. “Not only that, but you and Iona have been avoiding each other like the plague too. What’s up with that? Did you guys fight or something?”

Freddy sighed again. “No,” he simply said. “No, we really didn’t.”

“Then what is it?” asked Bonnie again, stepping up beside him.

Freddy didn’t answer immediately, he just closed his eyes. He had already admitted his feelings for Iona to himself, so he really saw no point in trying to hide them from his friends any longer. But he had literally just accepted it for himself a minute ago, so the question was, was he _really_ ready to tell them about it now?

Seeing the bear’s forlorn expression, Bonnie’s eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly in surprise. “Ohhh…” he said, a grin appearing on his face as he now began to understand his friend’s situation. “I get it now. You’ve fallen in love with her, right?”

“Hmm…” Freddy sighed sadly, still not looking towards his companions. “I don’t suppose there’s much use in trying to deny it.”

“Hey, I ain’t judging,” Bonnie told him reassuringly. “I mean, I can’t exactly blame you or anything. She is very beautiful, after all.”

Freddy glanced up towards the security camera on one of the far corners of the ceiling. Thankfully it wasn’t turning left and right like it did when the guard in question was viewing them on the monitor. Instead, it was still, meaning that she wasn’t currently watching them. 

“Yes…” he agreed quietly. “She _is_ beautiful, isn’t she? More than that, she has the most amazing personality of anyone I’ve ever met. But that just makes it all the more unbearable.”

“What do you mean?” asked Bonnie, head tilted and eyes narrowed.

Freddy turned his saddened gaze back down to the floor. “I can’t be with her, Bonnie,” he said. “It’s not normal. It wouldn’t be right.”

“What makes you say that?” Bonnie questioned again. 

When Freddy hesitated to answer him a second time, another idea came to the rabbit’s mind. 

“Oh,” he said, giving his friend another comprehending look. “You feel weird about it because you knew her as a kid, right? Well you know, in most cases, yeah, that _would_ be weird, but in your case, it’s okay. I mean, it’s not as if you ever felt that way about her back then. You’re only starting to have these feelings for her now because, since she came back to work here, you’ve been seeing her in a different way than you did before. And that’s just because, well, she _is_ different now. She’s grown up, she's matured, and like you said, she has an amazing personality, one she wouldn’t have without growing up. People don’t stay kids forever and she’s no exception, and she really has grown up to be an all round attractive person, inside _and_ out. So I can definitely see why you’d start to fall for her at this point.”

“It’s not just that though, is it, Bonnie?” answered Freddy glumly. “There’s also that incredibly, painfully obvious fact that she’s a human being and I’m… well… a robot.”

“Why should tha-a-a-a-at stop ye-e-e-e-e, Freddy-y-y-y-y-y?” asked Foxy, folding his tattered arms over his torn chest.

“Yeah,” agreed Bonnie. “I mean, from what she’s told us before, Iona’s had human boyfriends in the past that have done her little good. And I’ve known you my entire existence, Freddy, and I’ve seen how much respect and admiration you have for Iona, so I can safely say that you’d be a far better match for her than any of those ungrateful dolts could ever hope to be.”

“Yes, but unlike me, they’ve never murdered anyone, have they?” Freddy reminded him. Holding his paws up in front of him, palms facing in towards himself, he went on, “But I have. I’ve taken hundreds of people’s lives, and in the most gruesome and violent of ways imaginable. I have eighteen years worth of innocent blood on my paws. I’m not worthy of someone as good as Iona, someone as amazing and as wonderful as her. I don’t deserve her. No more than any of her past exes ever did.”

“Hey, listen,” said Bonnie. “Iona’s forgiven you for all that. She’s forgiven _all_ of us for that. She understands why you did it, why you made the rest of us do it too. She wouldn’t still be here if she didn’t.”

“All the same, there’s no way she’d ever feel the same way about me,” Freddy told him gloomily.

“You don’t know that for sure,” answered Bonnie. “Don’t tell me you hadn’t noticed that obvious crush she had on you when she was a kid.”

“From the way she behaved whenever she was here,” Freddy began. “I’d be a fool not to have noticed. But that was years ago. It was just a simple child’s infatuation on her part. But she’s an adult now, she’ll have grown out of such childish fancies.”

“You’d be surprised at the things that some people _never_ actually grow out of,” Bonnie told him reassuringly. “Look, why don’t you just tell her how you feel? You’re clearly having a hard time bottling it all up anyway. You’d feel much better once it’s out.”

“How can you be so sure, Bonnie?” asked Freddy, almost glaring his rabbit friend straight in the eyes. “Besides, I can’t do that to her. No matter how confident you are that she’d reciprocate my feelings, she’s still my friend at the end of the day. There’s absolutely no way I’m gonna risk ruining that for her, for the both of us, by making working here awkward for her. I just can’t believe for a minute that she’d ever feel that way about me again. What do you expect me to do, just waltz into her office one night and be like, ‘Hey, remember how you used to have a crush on me when you were a kid? Well, now I’m in love with you too’? No, Bonnie. I can’t do that. I just can’t.”

“We-e-e-ell,” Foxy began helpfully. “Maybe-e-e-e ye nee-ee-ee-ee-eedn’t be qui-i-i-i-ite so blu-u-u-u-u-unt as that.”

Freddy looked towards the pirate, a puzzled look in his eyes. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Hey, yeah!” piped Bonnie cheerfully, eyes lighting up with enthusiasm. “That’s very true! There are plenty of ways to let a girl know you love her without actually _telling_ her, Freddy!”

“Like what?” asked the bear.

“Well,” Bonnie began thoughtfully. “For a start, you _are_ the lead singer of the band, right?”

“Right…?” replied Freddy, nodding his head slowly and narrowing his eyes suspiciously, wondering what the bunny was getting at.

“Well, why don’t you just do that?” Bonnie suggested. “Sing a little love song for her. You know, serenade her.”

The bear just looked at the rabbit in disbelief. “You can’t be serious,” he said flatly.

“I’m telling you, Freddy,” Bonnie insisted. “Girls love that! So even if she doesn’t feel anything for you now, she’ll be so flattered to know that you’re singing of her that she’s _bound_ to fall head over heels for you in an instant! It’s foolproof!”

“Oh, yeah?” asked Freddy doubtfully. “And what if she doesn’t, Bonnie? What if I end up making a complete fool of myself by singing my whole heart and soul out to her, only to have her turn me down? What if I end up not only embarrassing myself but her too, driving her away from this restaurant for good?”

“A-a-a-a-arrgh, what bi-i-i-i-ilge,” growled Foxy, shaking his head. “O-o-o-o-o-over these long yea-ea-ea-ea-ea-ears, I ‘ave see-ee-ee-ee-een plenty o’custome-e-e-e-e-ers come int’this restaura-a-a-a-a-ant and ‘ave ye-e-e-e-e-et t’see a lass that wa-a-a-a-asn’t moved by someo-o-o-one singin’ ‘er a rou-ou-ou-ou-ousin’ love sha-a-a-a-a-anty.”

“Exactly!” Bonnie affirmed in support of the fox’s argument. “So what do you say, Freddy?”

“Hmm…” Folding his arms again, Freddy took a minute to think. In truth, he had serious doubts about whether or not simply telling Iona his feelings for her would be a good idea, let alone if she’d be impressed by him singing his confession to her. He still felt that that would be way over the top himself. And how would Iona even react to it? Would she really fall instantly in love with him like Bonnie seemed so sure she would? Would she laugh at him? Would she be freaked out to learn that someone who had known her as a child was now feeling this way about her? Would she feel weird about coming back to work afterwards? If she were to turn him down, would she be gentle about it or would she be blunt? 

The bottom line was, he simply didn’t have a clue just how she would take such a confession. Then again, she too had been avoiding him these past few nights just like he had her, since the incident at the party. So maybe there _was_ a chance that she was feeling the same way he was after all. He still couldn’t be sure of course, but his friends seemed so adamant that he did this, so he eventually sighed in defeat.

“Okay,” he finally said quietly. “I’ll do it.”

“Yeah, boy!” cheered Bonnie ecstatically, thrusting a fisted paw into the air. Turning to Foxy, who had also roared with excitement, he then exclaimed, “Gimme five, Captain!”

Foxy went to meet the rabbit in the high five, but stopped instantly. “Se-e-e-e-eriously, Bonnie-ie-ie-ie-ie?” he growled in annoyance, motioning to his raised hook. “Why would ye-e-e-e-e-e do tha-a-a-a-at?”

Suddenly embarrassed, Bonnie awkwardly lowered his paw. “Hehe…” he laughed sheepishly. “Sorry, Foxy…”

~

Soon it was 6:00 am and Iona finally came into the dining room, still chatting with Chica who had left the security office with her. Seeing Bonnie and Foxy come out of the bathrooms, she smiled when they looked in her direction.

“Hey, guys!” she called over to them, waving.

“Hey, Iona,” answered Bonnie as she walked up to them.

“Hey, I just wanted to say,” she started awkwardly once she’d reached them. “I’m sorry I’d been ignoring you all these past few nights. I just… I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, you know?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” said Bonnie, waving his paw dismissively. “That’s quite understandable, believe me.” He finished that last sentence with a grin as he gave her an almost conspiratorial wink.

Iona just looked up at the rabbit with a puzzled expression, her brow furrowed. “Er… right,” she just said. “Well, I’d better be off home now.” She turned and headed towards the doors. “See you guys tomorrow night!” she called back to them.

“Bye, Iona!” answered Chica, waving as the guard stepped out through the glass doors and disappeared out of sight. It was at that moment that Freddy finally emerged from the darkness of the bathrooms to join his friends.

“Hey Chica, come over here,” said Bonnie, still grinning wildly as he motioned for the chicken to come closer once her attention was on him.

“What is it, Bonnie?” she asked, smiling as she saw the excited look in the rabbit’s eyes.

“You’re not gonna believe this,” he answered, unable to stop himself from snickering. He then gestured a thumb back to Freddy and continued, “We got ourselves a robo-Romeo here.”

“Bonnie, please…” muttered Freddy, placing a paw over his face in embarrassment, suddenly wishing he had never said a word about what he had earlier admitted to his friends.

“Ooh, do tell,” Chica answered Bonnie, not even _trying_ to disguise her intrigue.

And so, while Freddy stood silently by the bathroom doorway, Bonnie and Foxy excitedly explained to Chica their plan of the bear in question confessing his love for Iona by singing her a heartfelt love song.

“It’s a lovely idea!” beamed Chica, clasping both her feathered hands together. Then, looking back towards Freddy, she asked him, “So when you gonna do it?”

“Tomorrow night,” he answered her plainly, not looking up from the floor.

“Oh,” said Chica, surprised. “Tomorrow night? Are you sure that’s not too soon?”

“Why would it be?” he asked her, finally turning his gaze towards her. “I’ve been bottling this all up for quite long enough now, trying my very hardest to fight it. But now that I’ve accepted it, I think it’s time to just tell her the truth.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” answered Chica, still sounding uncertain herself. Then, her smile returning, she asked, “So which song will you be singing for her? Have you decided on one yet?”

Freddy shook in reply. “No, I haven’t. Which song do _you_ guys think I should sing?” he asked, looking around at his three friends.

“Why are you asking _us_ that?” questioned Bonnie. “You’re the one that’s in love with her. That’s something you should decide for yourself.”

“But I’ve never done anything like this before,” Freddy told him, almost protesting. “How will I know which one to pick?”

Placing both paws in his hips, Bonnie began to tut as he shook his head disappointedly at the bear. “Honestly, Freddy. I’m surprised at you. I’ve always thought, being the lead singer of the band and everything, that you’d be the most musically inspired one out of the whole lot of us. How to pick a good song is something you’re _supposed_ to know!”

“But every song I’ve ever sung before has been chosen for me by my programming,” the bear pointed out. “This is the first time I’ll ever be choosing something for myself, and I don’t even know where to start.”

“It ha-a-a-a-a-as t’be a shanty-y-y-y-y that ye feel rea-ea-ea-ea-eally speaks to ye in terms o’ yer love for th’la-a-a-a-a-ass,” explained Foxy. “A sha-a-a-a-a-anty that makes ye thi-i-i-i-ink of ‘er instantly-y-y-y-y when ye hear i-i-i-i-i-it. Ye have t’be able to fee-ee-ee-ee-eel that the words ma-a-a-a-atch yer feelin’s for her pe-e-e-e-erfectly-y-y-y-y.”

“But, Foxy,” started Freddy. “There are like a million love songs in existence as of today. Finding one I can relate to could take ages.”

“Well,” Chica began helpfully. “It’s not as if singing love songs is a new experience for you, Freddy. As well as our usual kiddy songs, don’t we have to sing ones appropriate for certain holidays too? You know, like carols for Christmas, songs with spooky themes for Hallowe’en, and even romantic songs for Valentine’s Day too. To narrow it down, why don’t you try picking something you remember singing for that particular holiday before?”

“Great idea!” agreed Bonnie enthusiastically. Turning back to Freddy, he told him encouragingly, “You’ll find one in no time, Freddy. You just have to go through every song you remember singing before until you find one that really clicks with you. Should be easy enough, right?”

Freddy took another moment to think. They were right of course. He _had_ performed quite a large range of songs over the past twenty years, songs that were always picked for him by his programmers, provided that the lyrics were kept family-friendly. Not just silly, childish songs for the particularly young children that came in, but also ones that were in the charts to keep the accompanying teenagers and adults entertained too. That did indeed include songs which were ideal for specific holidays as Chica had pointed out, and amazingly he remembered each and every one of his past songs. But who knew if any of the love songs he’d sung before could really relate to his own feelings for Iona.

For a few minutes, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all waited patiently as Freddy thought more about his song choice, the dead silence of the empty restaurant hung between them, creating an air of eager anticipation, like they were awaiting a very important announcement. It was pretty obvious that the bear was racking his mind to find the perfect song, his eyes hard in concentration, but they all hoped they wouldn’t be kept in suspense like this for _too_ long. 

Finally, Freddy looked up to meet his friends’ expectant gazes and, quite simply, he announced, “I think I have it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ms. McLellan (c) BonnyMcL. Thank you so letting me give your OC a cameo in this chapter. Consider it my thanks for all the support you've shown me over the years. ❤️


	14. Chapter 13: All of Me

The following night, Iona walked up to the pizzeria, still nervous but no longer reluctant to be there like she had been the past few nights, thanks to her opening up to Chica the previous night about what had been bothering her. Tonight, she was planning to try to talk to Freddy again, to see if he still wanted to talk to her, to make sure they were still friends despite what had happened between them. She still didn’t know how she would approach him, how she _could_ approach him. If she would be able to and still maintain her composure, without letting her anxiety show through, without letting her feelings for him show through. Could she really convince him that she wasn’t feeling anything more than friendship for him? Was it possible to act as if nothing had happened at all? She doubted it would be so easy, but, suddenly thinking back to her acting school days, she decided she would use the training she had gotten then to aid her. Hopefully staying casual would be a lot easier then if she were to actually play the part of someone who wasn’t having romantic feelings for her robot friend. Hopefully pushing the inevitable awkward feelings to the pit of her stomach and maintaining steady eye contact with him would be possible if she were to put all her concentration into playing that part, becoming that character, turning back into that previous version of herself. She hated that she would now have to put on such a pretence around her closest friend, but if it meant maintaining that friendship, something she treasured above all else, then it had to be done. She just wished she had thought of this while still at home, when she would’ve had time to rehearse her upcoming conversation with Freddy, time to go over her lines.

Finally reaching the main entrance, she unlocked the doors and stepped inside. Locking them again behind her, she turned and smiled at seeing her friends already awake and active, having stepped down from the stage. Though instead of roaming around the dining area as usual, they all seemed to be staring intently towards the side of the stage closest to the doors she had just come in through.

“Hi, guys!” she chirped, bringing their attention towards her all in unison.

“Hey, Iona,” replied Chica with a wave. Bonnie and Foxy also smiled and waved at her.

Looking around the room, Iona noticed then that a certain bear was missing. “Where’s Freddy?” she asked.

“Oh, him?” replied Bonnie, putting his paws behind his back as his eyes switched rapidly around the room, landing on everything else except Iona. “He’s, er… in the control room beside the stage.”

Confused, Iona glanced towards the stage where she now just noticed, even in what little light there was in the room, a door that was painted the same shade of grey-black as the rest of the wall to blend in with it, its outline not quite completely concealed behind the red velvet curtain hanging from the left side of the stage. In the very direction the robots had all be staring in when she arrived. A control room? Beside the stage? Of course there would be, she thought. That was where the programmers would’ve worked, operating the stage lights and playing the songs on the speakers, which the animatronics would then sing in time with.

“What’s he doing in there?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.

“He’s just, er… making preparations for -”

Before Bonnie could finish, Foxy roughly elbowed him in the side, shook his head sternly at him and loudly cleared his throat whilst making a gesture with his hook which resembled pulling a zip across his lips, signalling for the rabbit not to say any more.

“That is, er…” said Bonnie awkwardly, finally looking at Iona. “It’s top secret.”

Iona just stared at the rabbit, narrowing her eyes suspiciously for about two seconds before simply answering, “Okay…?” Turning, she added, “Well, I’d better get to the office then.”

With that, she walked across the dining room and headed through the west corridor with its ever-flickering lightbulb towards her office. When she got there, she draped her coat round the back of the swivel chair by her desk and went to sit down when she noticed a slip of folded paper placed on top of the camera monitor that had been waiting for on the desk as per usual. Taking a closer look at it, she saw that it had her name written on it.

“Huh, what?” Picking it up, she unfolded it to find that a message had been written inside in an almost shaky but obviously controlled handwriting, like the writer’s hands had been too big to properly hold a pen and therefore had some difficulty in steadying it, evidently putting effort into making their words decipherable. The message read:-

_When you hear music, view Show Stage camera._   
_~Freddy_

“Freddy?” 

For a moment, all she could do was stare at the piece of paper in her hand, confused as to why Freddy would leave such a message for her. Especially after three nights of the two of them not speaking to each other, or even wanting to spend a minute in the same room together. She turned, staring out the doorway opposite to the one she had just come in through, into the darkness outside. Still holding the note in her hand, she stepped out of the office and walked down the east hallway back towards the dining room, assuming her friends would still be there.

“Bonnie?” she called out as she went. “Chica? Foxy? Guys?”

She stopped at the doors to the kitchen when she heard the familiar _crash-bang-wallop!_ coming from inside, indicating that Chica was messing around in there again like she sometimes was. Pushing open one of the doors, she stepped in and caught the chicken in question standing by one of the counters, seeming to be rummaging her hand through an open drawer where Iona supposed the cooking utensils were kept.

“Chica?”

Hearing the guard’s voice, Chica stopped in her random antics and turned round to face her. “Oh hey, Iona!” she smiled. “What’s up?”

Iona didn’t answer right away, simply approached the chicken and held up the note for her to see. “Do you know anything about this?” she asked.

Tilting her head slightly to the side, Chica’s eyes briefly scanned the message before looking back to Iona, a mischievous twinkle lighting up in her glassy lilac orbs as she began to giggle. “Oh, that’s just a little message from Freddy,” she answered slyly.

Iona let the hand holding the note drop to her side as she just stared at the chicken, unimpressed. “Well, obviously it’s a message from Freddy, duh,” she replied irritably. “But what do you suppose it mea-” She stopped, another thought coming to her then from seeing the way the robot grinned at her. “You told him, didn’t you?” she guessed flatly, even more annoyed.

“Iona, I swear!” said Chica in mock protest, still unable to help her remaining smile. “Not a word of what you told me last night has passed my beak since! However,” she added, tapping a finger against one of her nostrils as a gesture of secrecy. “That doesn’t mean the boys couldn’t let me in on a little secret of their own too.”

Iona would’ve felt better then at knowing that her friend hadn’t betrayed her secret after all, though she still couldn’t help but stare at Chica with furrowed brows as the bird’s last comment started to raise even further questions in her mind. 

“Right…” she simply said, unsure how else to respond. “Anyway, what do you think it could mean?”

Chica giggled again. “Go back to your office and you’ll soon find out,” she told her, winking as she pointed a finger to the direction of the doors.

Iona didn’t react immediately, just blinked, her confused gaze still on Chica. She and the rest of the animatronics sure were acting funny tonight. Though they were obviously trying to hide it, there was definitely some kind of conspiratorial air about them all, like they were planning something together and for some reason didn’t seem to want to let Iona in on it. Well, not just yet anyhow. Freddy’s note, Chica’s strange smiles and cryptic answers to her questions. Iona began to get the impression that they were planning some kind of surprise for her. And the fact that the note had been left for her by Freddy himself, could this possibly have something to do with the conflict she’d been having with herself these past few nights regarding her new feelings for him? Did he know about it somehow, even if Chica _hadn’t_ told him like she’d promised not to? Iona instantly shook the thought from her head, somehow feeling that such a conclusion would be too far-fetched. After all, it wasn’t as if any of them knew about it besides Chica and herself. There was no way Freddy could already have found out about it too, right?

Finally, she sighed out her defeat. “Alright,” she said, shrugging her shoulders before turning and walking back out of the kitchen, heading back towards her office.

_What the heck is going on with these guys tonight?_

_~*Two hours later*~_

Iona looked away from the book in her hands, glancing at her watch and puffed slightly. 2:00 am. She had remained in her office for about two hours since Chica sent her back here. Somehow, she felt as though she was forbidden from leaving it until whatever it was the animatronics were planning came to fruition. Whatever it was they were planning for _her_. There was no doubt about it now. What was it Chica had said? She hadn’t told the others what she had told her, and yet they had let her in on a little secret of their own too? Then there was the fact that Freddy was the only one of them who hadn’t tried to talk to her while she’d insisted on keeping herself shut away in here these past few nights. Could it really be then that Freddy was feeling the same way for her as she was for him? Was that what this was about? Was he planning some kind of epic, heartfelt confession of some kind? Through the security cameras, no less. That was what the note had instructed her to do, to view the stage camera when she heard music. It was why she hadn’t dared touch the camera monitor all night since starting her shift.

Slowly, she was growing impatient. This shift was proving to be ever so slightly maddening. She had been told to wait in her office until she heard something, and she had the impression that she couldn’t even look at the cameras, the very thing her whole job was centred around in the first place. Of course, the mystery of it all, just what it was they were planning and why they wanted her to stay here until it was ready for her, wouldn’t have been so bad if they didn’t seem to be taking their sweet time about it. If it hadn’t turned out to take as long as _two hours_ to prepare it. It wasn’t that she didn’t like surprises. She’d always liked them very much. Being told she was going to get one had always been very exiting for her, especially when around Christmas or her birthday, one thing from her childhood she’d never grown out of as an adult. What she _did_ hate about them though, was being told about it too long in advance, meaning she would have to wait an agonisingly long time to find out what it was that promised to be a very awesome surprise indeed. In this instance however, she felt a lot less excited and a lot more confused, still not completely sure of what occasion this particular surprise could be coming from, let alone what it could’ve been. Though she had some sort of clue, something still told her that it very likely wouldn’t be what she thought it would be, which only made the suspense worse, especially since she had to wait such a long time to see what it was.

_Sheesh, just when I had planned to try to make amends with him too._

It was a good thing then, she thought, that she had randomly decided to bring this book to work with her. She hadn’t predicted her current shift would turn out like this, obviously. But all the same, after taking the first few minutes to think really hard about how she would approach Freddy and what she would say to him, it gave her something to keep herself occupied. Something to distract her mind and pass the time she had been forced to stay cooped up in her office, this time when she really didn’t want to. She just hoped it wouldn’t have to be for _too_ long now. 

Deciding not to think about it anymore, she went back to her book and continued to read. It was a rather exciting book, a crime drama, one she had started a couple of weeks back and of which she read a chapter or two each night. An intense and thrilling read, and she had enjoyed it so much that she was surprised to find herself already nearing the end. Now, she reading the chapter which came right after the climactic scene. The main character, a middle-aged Scotland Yard inspector, had just revealed to have faked his death to prevent the murderer from killing him for real with the cunning use of a stab vest and fake blood capsules. 

And that when she finally heard it.

A slow, tender piano riff started playing from way at the opposite end of the restaurant. Her attention away from her book again, Iona listened carefully for a split second. She thought it came from the dining room, from the speakers on the stage. Instantly remembering Freddy’s note, she quickly tossed her book onto the desk, without even thinking to bend in the top corner of her current page to save her place, and snatched up the camera monitor, switching it on. She immediately found herself viewing the Show Stage camera, and what she saw on the feed, through the ever crackling static, surprised her. It was Freddy. He stood in his usual spot on the stage, but instead of being accompanied by Bonnie and Chica as per usual, he stood alone. Most of the lights had been turned off, leaving the stage in absolute darkness, save for a soft but bright spotlight which seemed to be focused entirely on the bear. His whole body faced the camera, but his head was bent forward slightly and Iona thought she could see a hint of nervousness in his eyes as he stared down towards the floor. After about a second, he lifted his head and looked straight up into the camera, blue eyes soft as if he were gazing directly at her. Iona now detected real fear in them despite the gentleness, though before she could question in her mind what was happening, Freddy lifted his microphone to his mouth and started to sing.

_What would I do without your smart mouth?_   
_Drawing me in and you kicking me out_   
_You got my head spinning, no kidding_   
_I can’t pin you down_

At first, all Iona could do was stare blankly into the monitor screen as she watched the bear sing, as she listened to his ever melodious voice singing what sounded like a passionate, heartfelt song. She blinked, utterly confused and surprised at first. Though as she continued to watch, it quickly dawned on her. This was the first time she had really seen him since the night of the party, the first time she had allowed herself to give him more than just a sideways glance. The first time he seemed to have allowed himself to be seen by her these past few nights. He was performing after 2:00 am, long after the restaurant was closed, empty with nobody else in to watch him. He was on stage by himself, without Bonnie and Chica to accompany him. He was looking up into the camera instead of facing out towards the tables as he sang. He seemed nervous about putting on a performance, which was odd because it was something he pretty much did every day, and he had been doing it for twenty years since the place was first opened. Going by the lyrics, Iona knew right away that it wasn’t any of his usual children’s songs, but a love song, which he appeared to be singing so passionately as if he were pouring all his heart and soul into each word he sang despite his obvious anxiety. Adding all of these up, it finally hit her. Was he… singing this… for _her_?

_What’s going on in that beautiful mind?_   
_I’m on your magical mystery ride_   
_And I’m so dizzy, don’t know what hit me_   
_But I’ll be alright_

That question was answered when Freddy gestured his paw towards the camera as he sang the first line of that second verse. Yes, he _was_ singing this for her. So he _did_ feel the same way for her as she did for him. So _this_ was what the animatronics were planning. Freddy confessing his love for Iona by doing what he did best, singing for an audience. And right now, that audience was _her_. Just _her_.

Surprised and very shocked, Iona shot up from her chair, slamming the camera monitor back down on the desk as she stood, and dashed towards one of the doors. Placing a hand on one side of the iron frame, she didn’t immediately step out of her office but peered down the dark hallway, still listening to Freddy’s distant voice which echoed hauntingly through the corridor towards her as he continued to sing.

_My head’s underwater but I’m breathing fine_   
_You’re crazy and I’m out of my mind_

Still unable to believe what was really happening, Iona pressed her free hand over her chest, trying in vain to steady the rapid beating of her heart, which she hadn’t even noticed until that very moment as she fought back tears which suddenly threatened to fall. She just couldn’t bring herself to believe it. Freddy, Freddy Fazbear, her favourite character, her childhood crush, her best friend, and now the object of what she first thought to be a forbidden love, was really expressing his own repressed feelings for her. Corny as it sounded, it was like something from a dream; it just didn’t feel real at all. But it was, it really was. She knew it as well as she’d known anything. In fact, it was so obvious that right now, it was the only thing she _did_ know. The only thing she cared about.

_‘Cause all of me loves all of you_   
_Love your curves and all your edges_   
_All your perfect imperfections_   
_Give your all to me, I’ll give my all to you_   
_You’re my end and my beginning_   
_Even when I lose, I’m winning_

As Freddy still sang on, Iona could no longer keep herself from finally leaving her office, running down the East Hallway towards the dining room, not caring that she could hardly see her way through the dark corridor. She was focused solely on the bear’s voice as he kept on singing, surprisingly drowning out the clicks of her heeled shoes against the tiled floor. She didn’t even notice, as she ran past the kitchen, that Chica had opened one of the doors slightly, peeking out through the crack and watching the guard intently as she continued to rush towards the dining room, to where Freddy was performing on stage.

_‘Cause I give you all of me_   
_And you give me all of you, oh_

In the dining room, Bonnie and Foxy both stood silently off to the side, watching as Freddy sang up into the ever rotating security camera which protruded from the wall a few inches above his eye level. About a minute into the song however, one of Bonnie’s ears twitched outward as he picked up the sound of running footsteps coming from the east corridor, quickly growing louder in the darkness as they echoed off the walls. Realising it could only have been Iona, he gave Foxy a gentle nudge, gesturing his friend to retreat with him into a darker corner of the room once he had caught the pirate’s attention. With a nod of acknowledgement from the fox, the two robots quietly slunk off into their chosen shadowy spot. Evidently, Freddy must’ve heard the guard approaching too, for as he finished the last line of the first chorus, he quickly turned away from the camera, facing out towards the tables as Iona came into the room. She stopped abruptly when she finally laid eyes on the bear up on the stage.

_How many times do I have to tell you?_   
_Even when you’re crying, you’re beautiful too_   
_The world is beating you down_   
_I’m around through every mood_

Still unaware of the other animatronics watching her from their respective spots, Iona’s entire focus remained on Freddy who now had his eyes closed as he seemed to be singing his entire heart out to the empty chairs and tables as if a seated audience was indeed watching him.

_You’re my downfall, you’re my muse_   
_My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues_   
_I can’t stop singing_   
_It’s ringing in my head for you_

Watching him still, Iona unconsciously began to walk slowly around the tables towards the stage, miraculously managing not to trip on any chair legs as she made her way through the darkness of the room. She suddenly found herself thinking of her childhood again. As a kid, one of her secret wishes was to one day be left in the pizzeria by herself with the animatronics, so they could communicate with and perform for her and _only_ her. Though what her heart had desired the most was for Freddy to give her a solo performance, singing a tender love song just for her. But for all her dreaming and wishing, she never thought in her wildest imaginations that such a thing would ever come true. But now, all of a sudden, it had. There he was, up on that stage by himself, singing just for her with that baritone voice of his which now sounded more beautiful than ever. Especially without the usual blaring, upbeat pop music which played during the day, but a slow, soft piano accompaniment instead. She still couldn’t believe it was really happening.

_My head’s underwater but I’m breathing fine_   
_You’re crazy and I’m out of my mind_

By now, Iona stood right at the end of the middle table, the spot closest to Freddy’s position on the stage, the very seat in which she always liked to sit whenever she came here as a child. Eyes still on the bear as he continued to sing, his focus still on his performance as if she herself wasn’t even there, she gently pulled out the chair and sat down. Her heart continued to thump wildly in her chest as she gazed up at her friend, a single tear finally managing to break free, sliding down her cheek but she didn’t move to wipe it away. It only occurred to her then that, now that she was in the same room as him again, now that she was close to him again, she wouldn’t have to try to fake not being in love with him after all. He was already in the middle of proving her feelings to be completely and utterly reciprocated after all. The potential pretence was now pointless, there was no use in her putting on the act. Relief washed over her then, knowing she could still be open and honest with the one she felt closest to, more than anyone else in the world, without fear of any consequences, no matter how small they might’ve been.

But that wasn’t the only reason why she was relieved. Knowing now that Freddy did in fact feel the same way for her as she did for him, she was finally truly reassured that there was nothing at all wrong with it. Though it had made her feel a little better, Chica’s pep talk from the night before hadn't fully expelled the feelings of awkwardness Iona had been experiencing from this. But now that she finally knew her feelings for Freddy were reciprocated, she didn’t care how weird it would be for a human to love a robot anymore. She finally realised that it didn’t matter. 

_‘Cause all of me loves all of you_   
_Love your curves and all your edges_   
_All your perfect imperfections_

The only thing that _did_ matter to Iona was that the one she loved most definitely loved her back, and with the genuine devotion and affection she had always wanted. Nothing at all like the superficial, empty declarations her past boyfriends had given her, just to make themselves look good and persuade her to stay with them to boost their egos. This wasn’t what Freddy was trying to do at all. With the clearly hesitant anxiety he had shown before starting his song instead of the eye-rolling, narcissistic overconfidence her exes had shown before, Iona knew then that his feelings for her were deep, unconditional and most definitely genuine. He wasn’t trying to impress her, he wasn’t trying to show off. That was never even his style to begin with. He only sang for the kids because he knew he had to and he always gave the impression that he really did like to see the smiles he brought to their faces, that being a reward within itself. He was never at all interested in trying to making himself look good, just like he wasn’t now. He was just expressing to her how he felt. That was it. His gesture, as always, was selfless, thinking only of his love for her, himself and how he must’ve looked the furthest thing from his mind. It was clearly coming from the bottom of his heart and as she listened, Iona could tell, without even the slightest shadow of a doubt, that he solemnly meant every single word he sang, and it made her love him all the more. 

So not only was she relieved or flattered by this, she was very happy too. Elated, overjoyed. The happiest she had ever been in her entire life. To know that someone finally loved her for who she was, for everything she was, and wasn’t just looking to use her for his own advantages. In his voice, she could hear that he loved, respected and worshipped the very ground on which she walked, the very clothes that she wore, the very air that she breathed. That he would do absolutely everything in his power to see that she was always happy, to make sure that she would always be safe. He valued her, treasured her even. To him, she wasn’t just a lowly night guard, not just a regular worker at his restaurant. She was a princess, a queen, a goddess. The most perfect, flawless thing in his dark, tainted world, more precious or vital to him than any chip or length of wire needed for his systems. This was how he saw her. She could see it on his face, hear it in his voice, feel it in his aura. And it felt amazing, to finally be appreciated beyond all measure, and by someone she felt the exact same way for. She couldn’t hold back her tears any longer, they now flowed in streams down her cheeks, but she made no sound and not even a shiver stirred her body, still stiffened despite the relief and contentment she now felt. In that moment, she found she wanted nothing more than to be here with him like this, just the two of them in this room together, alone. No one else but them.

_Give your all to me, I’ll give my all to you_   
_You’re my end and my beginning_   
_Even when I lose, I’m winning_

As Freddy continued to sing away, Chica finally entered the dining room and walked slowly to the far shadowy corner where Bonnie and Foxy stood together, still watching the spectacle before them. If glassy robotic eyes could produce tears, Chica was certain that she would cry the moment she saw Freddy up on the stage. It was beautiful, moving sight, the bear standing by himself in the spotlight, singing his heart out to the guard who was sitting before him, not moving an inch and watching him intently from her front row seat.

“Oh, it’s so romantic,” she whispered, quietly enough not to interrupt Freddy’s performance but loud enough to grab the remaining animatronics’ attention. “Look at him up there, singing his heart out to her like that.”

Bonnie turned to Chica and nodded, a smile on his face also. “I know, it’s incredible,” he agreed, his voice too lowered to a whisper. Turning back to face the two by the stage, he continued, “I’ve never seen him perform so passionately before. I mean, you could always tell he was happy to sing for the kids, but this is different. He’s pouring all his heart and soul into this one performance for someone he loves. I wonder what Iona’s thinking over there. I told Freddy she’d be impressed, but actually watching it happen now, she’d definitely be a fool not to be.”

_‘Cause I give you all of me_   
_And you give me all of you, oh_   
_Give me all of you_

“She i-i-i-i-i-is,” answered Foxy quietly, his one visible eye watching Iona closely. Pointing a twitching hook towards her, he added, “Loo-oo-oo-ook. She has ‘er e-e-e-e-eyes fixed upon hi-i-i-im, ju-u-u-u-ust like she used to-o-o-o-o yea-ea-ea-ears ago when she be-e-e-e-e a li-i-ittle one. She’s a-a-a-a-always been captiva-a-a-ated by ‘im si-i-i-ingin’ and this ti-i-i-ime be no differe-e-e-e-ent. In fa-a-a-act, she be wa-a-a-a-atchin’ him mo-o-o-ore intently-y-y-y-y than befo-o-o-o-ore, so she-e-e-e clea-ea-ea-early be fee-ee-ee-eelin’ for ‘im the way-ay-ay-ay-ay he feels fo-o-o-o-or her. But le-le-le-le-let’s all kee-ee-ee-eep quiet no-o-o-o-ow. The so-o-o-ong be nearly do-o-o-o-one.”

“ _Cards on the table, we’re both showing hearts_ ,” Freddy sang out, giving no indication that he had heard his friends’ conversation as he placed his free paw over his chest, where a heart would’ve been if he had one. “ _Risking it all though it’s hard_.”

Both smiling at Foxy, Bonnie and Chica simultaneously nodded in agreement as they turned their attention back to Freddy and Iona, back to watching the performance.

_‘Cause all of me loves all of you_   
_Love your curves and all your edges_   
_All your perfect imperfections_

Iona hadn’t heard the others talking either. Not only because they had lowered their voices to whispers; the music from the stage speakers and Freddy’s singing would’ve drowned them out anyway, even if they had spoken louder. Besides, the guard was still so focused on the singing bear before her, just like he seemed to be concentrating on nothing else except his performance. Since she sat down, Iona had not moved once or taken her eyes off Freddy, and he had never opened his or even faltered in his performance since he started. Both were just so entranced by the moment, that it seemed the whole world had been reduced to nothing but the pizzeria, the dining room, the stage where Freddy stood and the place before him where Iona was sitting. And it was just the two of them, as if the other three weren’t even there with them. Just Freddy and Iona alone together as he continued to sing for her, _to_ her. A couple of more tears ran down Iona’s face and again she didn’t move to wipe them off. She didn’t want to look away, didn’t want to stop listening, didn’t want to let the tiniest thing distract her from watching Freddy, not even for a split second. She had never been so moved by anything else in her life, and she felt she wanted to watch him sing for her forever, if such a thing were possible.

_Give your all to me, I’ll give my all to you_   
_You’re my end and my beginning_   
_Even when I lose, I’m winning_

Quietly, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all left their dark corner and walked slowly through the tables until they all stood around Iona, their eyes still fixed intently on Freddy as he kept on singing. Iona didn’t look back to them, having not heard their footsteps or even sensed their gathered presence behind her. She remained completely transfixed by the bear up on the stage. Indeed it was as if, with every note, every word he sang, every loving gesture he made with his free paw, he had cast some kind of hypnotic spell on her, but it was a pleasant spell. It was warm and inviting, and she never wanted it to be broken. She never wanted to be freed from it, she would’ve happily remained under his enchantment for the rest of her life.

So far, Freddy hadn’t given any indication that he’d heard anything that went on around him either, not since he’d started singing. He too, it seemed, hadn’t allowed any minor distractions to disrupt his performance. Well, he did have to sing in front of an audience of noisy children, screaming with excitement and cheering him on every day and it never once put him off. How could he let such quiet sounds such as Iona’s footsteps down the corridor and through the dining room or even his friends’ whispers distract him during the night? It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to any of them then that he was able to stay focused on the song the entire time. He’d managed it every day for the past twenty years.

_‘Cause I give you all of me_   
_And you give me all of you_

With the final chorus finished, the song was now coming to a close and Iona thought Freddy would open his eyes and look down at her at long last, but he didn’t. Even as the piano backing track which played from the huge stage speakers became softer, indicating that the song was almost over, the bear kept his eyes closed as he sang the last couple of lines.

_I give you all of me_   
_And you give me all of you, oh…_

As the song ended, Freddy lowered his microphone as the final piano note died down, sending the dining room back into silence, which only lasted for a couple of seconds before his small audience erupted into an enthusiastic applause. Bonnie even brought his fingertips up to his mouth and whistled up to him while Foxy roared out a piratical cheer as he thrust his hook into the air.

“Oh, Freddy, that was wonderful,” said Chica, still moved by her friend’s performance.

Relieved that his potentially degrading performance was all over, Freddy smiled lightly to himself as he finally opened his eyes. He might have given his friends some appreciative bows or even just thanked them for their support, had it not been for the fact that the first thing his eyes fell upon was Iona. He gasped lightly; unlike the others, she wasn’t cheering or applauding. Instead, she sat very still in her seat, her head lowered so that her eyes were concealed beneath the peak of her security cap. What he _did_ see of her face however showed a very stiff, blank look. His heart sank, knowing that this could only have meant one thing; she didn’t reciprocate his feelings for her, nor was she moved or even impressed by his singing for her. 

Glancing between Freddy and Iona and seeing their expressions, the three remaining animatronics all turned and started to walk away, as if by some unspoken agreement. They disappeared into the darkness of the far end of the dining room, as if intending to go into the corridors, leaving the bear and the guard alone together. A moment passed, but to Freddy, it felt like a lifetime as he cast his now sad eyes down to the stage floor. The awkward silence roared deafeningly in his ears as he found himself completely at a loss as to what to say to Iona, whilst at the same time fearing, dreading what she would say to him.

“Is it true, Freddy?” she asked suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence at last. Her voice was low and hollow, emotionless.

Surprised at hearing her speak, Freddy shot his eyes back up to Iona who still had hers cast down to the floor. After a second however, she too looked up, finally meeting his gaze. It seemed like she was struggling not to let any emotion show in her eyes, though they also appeared to be shining with what looked like tears that threatened to fall any second. Freddy couldn’t help but wonder though if that was just some trick of the bright spotlight which still engulfed him on the stage.

“Do you really feel that way about me?” she asked again, her voice wavering slightly this time as though she were fighting not to cry. Somehow, she looked a little angry.

His nervousness growing, Freddy gripped his microphone in both paws, trying to stop himself from shaking too much. It was done, Iona finally knew of his feelings for her and from the looks of things, she wasn’t even remotely flattered. Forcing himself to swallow back his dread however, he decided not to beat about the bush and instead to just come right out and say it.

“Yes,” he answered, his voice cracking with anxiety. “It’s true.”

Iona didn’t say anything else, simply looked back down towards the floor, seemingly in shame.

Freddy gulped, feeling like he ought to explain himself further, but in all honesty, he really didn’t know what else to say to her, if anything he said now could help to appease her obvious annoyance, even just a little.

“I-I…” he stammered, eyes now switching frantically between various random spots in the room as he struggled to find the right words to say to her. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you with this.”

The guard looked up to the bear again, her now flushed cheeks stained with more tears as her eyes had grown a lot softer.

“But it… wasn’t my idea, you understand,” Freddy went on hesitantly, still not looking at her. “I-I was worried I’d make a fool of myself by doing that, but Bonnie and Foxy… they insisted on it. I wanted to just _tell_ you, but… I was afraid. Afraid you would react like this. Of course… if you don’t feel the same way for me, I completely understand. And… I know things are probably gonna be awkward between us now. But… now that the truth is out and… even though you don’t feel that way for me too, I just… really hope we can still be friends… and -”

Not even remotely listening to his rambling, Iona, without thinking about what she was doing, had stood from her seat and climbed up on the stage in front of Freddy, cutting him off when she cupped both her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at her again. Before Freddy could react, the guard gently pulled him down towards her until their mouths collided. The bear thought he could feel her lips pressing against his as he looked at her now closed eyes, catching a hint of a bright blush on her cheeks from the bottom of his vision. His own eyes widened in surprise, feeling as though his entire endoskeleton frame trembled as it quickly registered with him what was happening; Iona was actually _kissing_ him! Which meant… she really did love him after all.

Closing his eyes again, Freddy tossed his microphone carelessly to the side. It landed near the corner of the stage with a hard _thud!_ , the impact causing loud, ear-piercing feedback to scream from the speakers. But the two scarcely noticed it as Freddy had already wrapped his strong, robotic arms around Iona’s smaller body, pulling her into a tight embrace as he returned the kiss, deepening it somewhat. Unconsciously, the guard wrapped her own arms around Freddy’s exposed endoskeleton neck, making sure to close the gap between herself and the bear as much as possible, refusing to let him go as she continued to kiss him. They stayed like that for a while, completely lost in this blissful moment, in each other, neither of them aware of their three friends watching them approvingly from the dark shadows at the opposite end of the dining room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song "All of Me" (c) John Legend / GOOD / Columbia


	15. Chapter 14: Scars of the Past

Afton arrived at the library the next morning. His determination to find the girl, the one who had miraculously escaped him all those years ago, was stronger now than it ever had been. It surprised him that such a thing could ever even be possible, but the incident at the grocery store a couple of weekends back was still bothering him. The young woman with the straight brown hair, clutching her shopping bag in her arms as she stared almost fearfully at him. There was definitely something familiar about her. Specifically, she looked very much like she could easily have been an adult version of the child who had gotten away that day. Though her hair was nowhere near as messy, there was something about her roundish face, her bright green eyes, that screamed to him that he had found her at last. Imagining that that was indeed the case, he grinned to himself as he pictured the hint of wary discomfort on her face as he stared at her, as he approached her. The mental image brought to him a feeling of sadistic glee, like he was a hungry wolf intently watching a cornered, frightened rabbit, ready to pounce on her and rip her to shreds if she even so much as showed the smallest sign of weakness.

But there was no way he could definitely have known for sure then, not just by looking at her. Which was why that encounter had bothered him so much. Why it had caused his determination to find her to escalate to the point when he had finally made the decision that he was going to drag his weak, pathetic self out of his dirty, decaying mess of a home in order to search for possible clues that might just lead back to her. The first of which, he knew, he would find when and where he had last seen her; the day he had murdered the other five children at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The wolf was now finally on the hunt for the ever elusive rabbit.

Slowly, he ascended the few steps to the library, a medium-sized brown block of a thing that looked as though it had come paired with the elementary school next to it. He glanced towards the empty playground, imagining seeing children running around and playing through the black painted iron bars of the surrounding fence. Somewhere in the distance, he spotted the gate, held closed with a thick chain complete with a huge brass padlock; it was the weekend, which meant that the school was closed. Suddenly realising _she_ would probably have gone to this very school, he found himself envisioning her over there in that playground. He could see her running around with a big, playful smile on her face, playing tag with her friends or jumping along the hopscotch patterns painted on the concrete, alternating between hopping on one leg and both legs at once. He made a quiet noise of disgust to himself. If only her life had been cut short then. The very idea of having failed to do that himself, of her having lived all these years since to become a fully grown adult made him sick to his stomach.

He stepped through the double glass doors of the library and walked up to the reception desk where a woman sat, staring at the computer in front of her. Her shoulder length hair was light brown and tied back in a half ponytail and she wore glasses and a light purple shirt. He could tell by the rapid clicking noises that could be heard from her direction that she was typing out something. An email or a report perhaps? He didn’t know, but neither did he care. His only concern was finding the girl.

“Excuse me…” he spoke calmly in his hoarse, tobacco-damaged voice.

The woman stopped typing, looked up and instantly gave him a polite smile, which only faltered slightly when she noticed his drained, haggard appearance, though she quickly managed to regain her composure after a split second. “Yes, hello, sir,” she answered as casually as she could. “How can I help you today?”

Afton fought to hold back the smirk which threatened to spread over his face then. He had made a point of giving himself a good wash that morning, attempting to make himself look somewhat presentable. He knew he couldn’t be going to a place as sophisticated as a library bathed in his usual aroma of tobacco ash, stale sweat and mildewed clothing, which would arouse suspicion if nothing else in the people around him. Though he could still see the slight discomfort in the librarian’s eyes despite her wide smile, and to bring such a feeling to other people had always bought to him in return a sense of sick satisfaction.

“I understand you keep an archive of past newspaper articles?” he asked.

“We have records dating all the way back to the 1880s, sir,” she informed him in a proud voice.

Satisfied, he allowed himself to smile as he gave her a polite nod. “Can you show me where?” he asked again.

“Certainly,” the librarian beamed brightly as she stood from her seat. “Please follow me, sir.” 

She walked out from behind the desk and gestured for Afton to follow her. He did, watching the woman intently as she led him through the main guest area of the library. He was somewhat grateful for the silence which tended to be required in a place such as this, the other guests standing by bookshelves and browsing the various books or seated by computers, doing their private businesses online. Though even if there had been just a little bit of noise, like a misbehaving child screaming with excitement, his concentration on his self-appointed mission was so strong that nothing could have distracted him at that moment.

“All our newspaper records are kept as digital files which we’ve saved on our computers,” explained the librarian as she and Afton continued to make their way through the library. “Collecting too many physical copies of old papers would take up too much room and they would eventually rot. It’s a much more efficient and modern way of keeping records of things.”

“I see…” answered Afton. “I’m afraid I myself do not have a computer at home. The things are… kind of a mystery to me. Would you mind showing me how to use one?”

“No problem, sir,” the librarian smiled back at him. Soon, they came to a door with a sign that read, “Computer Suite” hung on it. “Right in here, sir,” she said, opening the door and leading him inside.

It was a small room, with tables lined against the surrounding walls and there were about four or five large computers positioned at each wall. Thankfully for Afton, the room was empty, with nobody else sitting at any of the machines. His task, he felt, was top secret; no one else was to know about it or even see him researching what to them would be a particularly dark and disturbing event.

“Right here, sir,” said the librarian, motioning for Afton to sit at the computer closest to the door. Complying, he took a seat and watched the computer screen intently as the librarian switched the machine on for him. It made a low _duuuung!_ noise as it came to life and a couple of seconds later, the black screen flickered and changed to a pearl blue colour.

“Any particular story you wish to look at, sir?” asked the librarian politely as they waited for the computer to wake up completely.

“That’s none of your business,” Afton answered, annoyed that this woman would have the nerve to ask him such a question when she really did not need to know his reasons for being here in the first place. Though he had managed to keep his voice calm, he did nothing to keep the slightly threatening undertone out of it.

The librarian looked at Afton, shocked at the sudden outburst from him despite his calm, polite manner back out in the main foyer. She knew she hadn’t done anything wrong by asking him. It wasn’t exactly an intrusive question, at least she didn’t think so. Though she still felt guilty for offending him all the same.

“I-I…” she stammered, her cheeks now lightly flushed from embarrassment. “I’m sorry, sir.” 

Turning her attention back to the computer, it now displayed the main screen, another blue background but this time in a pattern of different shades with several labelled folder icons lined down one side of the screen. 

“Well, if we go over here…” she started to explain, taking the mouse moving it to drag the cursor across the screen until it hovered over a folder titled “Files”. “Okay, so basically, to open a file, you just double-click on it, like so.” She double-clicked on the folder and a large, white box appeared on the screen, showing even more labelled folders inside.

“I see,” Afton said softly.

“And if you want to scroll down to search for more files,” she went on. “You either hover the cursor over this bar at the side of the box, click and hold on it and drag it down. Or, if this is easier for you, take it to these arrows at the bottom here and just click on the up or down arrow, depending on which way you want to go.”

As she explained all of this, she did some demonstrations for him, dragging the bar up or down or clicking on either of the two buttons beneath it, both causing the folders to scroll up or down the way.

“Seems simple enough,” Afton spoke again. Then, starting to grow more impatient, he asked, “So what about these newspaper articles then?”

“Oh… yes, of course,” replied the librarian, feeling more uncomfortable with Afton’s slowly increasing irritation but managing to maintain a polite demeanour nonetheless. Her finger still holding down the button on the mouse, she quickly scrolled down until she found the folder titled, “Newspaper articles.” “Ah-ha, here we are.”

She dragged the cursor over to it and double-clicked on it, causing the box to show even more folders, this time numbered with various decades.

“So it should be pretty straightforward from here,” she told him. “If you remember when the article you’re looking for was published…” She paused when Afton stared up at her with annoyance in his dark, sagged eyes. “A-and I’m sure you do, of course,” she stammered again. “Then you simply open the file of the decade you wish you look at, then you’ll go to more folders numbered with years, then more titled with months and so on. A very quick and simple way to find what it is you’re looking for.”

“I think I pretty much get the gist of it by now,” Afton told her darkly, growing more impatient by the second to be left to do his own thing.

“Oh… well…” said the librarian, herself starting to feel eager to be away from him and back at her desk. “Well, I… I hope you find what you’re looking for. But if there’s anything else you need help with…”

“No, that will be all, thank you,” Afton replied.

“Oh, okay,” answered the librarian, smiling nervously. “Well, I’ll leave you to it then. Bye.”

Turning back, she exited the room, closing the door behind her and leaving Afton alone once more. Eyes glued to the screen, Afton grinned wickedly to himself as he took the mouse and continued with his search. Scrolling through the various folders until he found the one he was looking for and double-clicking, 1980s, 1985, June, 24th. He had committed the murders on June 23rd, but the news of the children’s disappearances wouldn’t have gotten out until the day after. It had made the headlines, being the biggest story at the time, the event that had shaken the very community to its core. So it was no wonder that it would be the first article listed when he finally found it.

_**Kids vanish at local pizzeria - bodies not found** _

The words on the all too familiar headline didn’t mean a damn thing to him anymore. He had read this same article himself so many times for the past eighteen years, replaying his crimes over and over in his head, arousing in him the same twisted feeling of joy every time. Any meaning each word or sentence ever had was now completely gone, vanished into thin air, just like the children he had slaughtered. Yet, despite how proud he had been that was the one to make the headlines that day, there was still that unshakeable feeling of incompleteness, knowing that of all the children he had lured to their deaths, one had somehow gotten away. For so long, he had racked his brains with so many questions, so many attempts to come up with plausible explanations as to how a child as young and as stupid as that could have escaped him so quickly and so silently. His mind could never come up with a satisfactory conclusion, and it only made his frustration and hatred for her grow all the more.

He had to find her. He _would_ find her. And when he did, he was _not_ going to let her get away from him again.

He would start by finding out her name. It was through that that he knew he might be able to track her down through her life’s history since the day she escaped him, or at the very least what had become of her afterwards.

So his eyes simply skimmed over the familiar words of the article. Five kids going missing, police suspect that an employee dressed in a character costume had lured them away, pizzeria temporarily closed for further investigations, blah blah blah… This was not going to get him any further to finding out just who the living child was or what had happened to her since. Not while the story seemed to be solely focused on the other five children, the ones he _had_ managed to kill. Having read it over and over again for years, that pretty much _was_ the only thing this article was focused on.

Letting go of the mouse, he put his face in both hands and let out a weary, frustrated groan. This was proving to be a lot harder than he had expected. There must be some sort of clue that would eventually lead him to her. Not just about the dead children. Not just interviews from the pizzeria staff or the detectives who had investigated the disappearances. What about survivors? Potential victims who had made it out alive? Close friends and family members of the children? Witnesses, perhaps?

His head jerked up. That was it. Witnesses. Nobody ever seemed to have found out or even suspected that he was the one behind the disappearances, but the restaurant had been pretty packed that day as he remembered. Somebody would have to have seen _something_ , right? Would her family had seen something? Or even just heard something? They must’ve known what had nearly become of their precious child after all. Perhaps they had been interviewed too? If they had, then that would almost definitely have been recorded in the papers, right? Would the family’s name be mentioned then? Especially, most importantly, _her first name_!

God, what an idiot he had been! Why hadn’t he thought of that before?

Closing the article before him, he scrolled down through the rest of them for that day, clicked back when he found nothing useful and opened the folder for the following day. This he repeated for a few more folders, finding more articles related to the disappearances at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza and reading through them. Finally, he found one that was titled, “ _ **Popular pizzeria temporarily closed - missing children still not found**_ ”.

He double-clicked on this one and began to read through it. For the first page or so, it just repeated the same details about what had happened to those poor little children, until he finally came to the next page, in which, just as he had hoped, samples of witnesses’ interviews had been recorded. It was through these, he just realised, that someone may very well have seen just how that little girl had managed to escape him. He began to read the quotes very carefully, not blinking once or taking his eyes away from the screen for a second. 

So far, it was only employees at the pizzeria noticing how this family had suddenly rushed out through the doors, the mother tightly clutching her little girl in her arms and a look of real fear in their eyes as they went. Nothing particularly helpful there. There wasn’t even a description of what this girl looked like or how she had made it back to her family. Though somehow, he still knew that that was her. It had to have been. Then there were interviews from the victims’ families, describing what their children were doing the last time they saw them and whining about how distressed they were that their children had gone, that they just wanted them home, safe and sound. He smirked to himself; bringing distress and misery to others always brought him great pleasure.

But he still had to find out just what had become of that one child who had survived him.

Then, on the final page of the article, was an interview with a woman by the name of Catherine Blackburn, whose five-year-old daughter had been brought back to her so swiftly.

_“We weren’t told much about what was happening,” Mrs. Blackburn explained to the local police. “Only that we had to take our daughter home immediately because there was someone in the building who she wasn’t safe around. We were also told that he already had five other children with him.”_

Blackburn. The girl’s surname was Blackburn. That was good, he thought. He was getting somewhere. He could just feel it in his weak, fragile bones.

_Neither Mrs. Blackburn nor her husband, Colin were willing to disclose the name or even to provide a description of the person who had warned them of the danger their little girl was in. Therefore it is impossible to determine whether this warning had come from someone who was working with the perpetrator or to someone who had genuine sympathies for the Blackburn family, whether or not it had come from someone else who was also a threat to the children who frequented Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza._

_“Honestly, I don’t care how he knew or what his motives were,” Mrs. Blackburn stated almost tearfully. “The fact remains that he had brought our little girl to us when she was in danger. Therefore, I am very grateful to him for what he did. We both are. I don’t dare even begin to imagine what would’ve happened to her if he hadn’t done that, it’s just too unbearable. Of course my heart goes out to all the families who had lost their children and I hope they are soon found and returned to their homes safely. But what matters to me the most is that my precious little Iona was brought back to us safe and unharmed.”_

Iona Blackburn. _Iona Blackburn_. The name swam around and around in Afton’s mind so much that he slowly began to lose all sense of where he was or how long he had been there until it seemed the whole world was nothing but the name, Iona Blackburn.

He knew her name. After all these years, he finally knew her name. Iona Blackburn. For a moment, he let it continue to spin around in his head as he took the time to really relish having the runaway child’s identity in the palm of his hand at long last. Though as soon as it really sunk in, it stopped swimming and began to burn inside his skull, boiling his brain with his anger and hatred for the girl. The girl who had escaped him, the girl who had lived, the girl who had very likely grown up to adulthood by now and who was especially likely to still be alive today. When, eighteen years ago, she should have died. He should have killed her, along with all those other brats he had kidnapped that day.

But now, he had a lead. Now he had found the first clue to who she was. Using this first clue, he would soon sniff out other clues like a bloodhound until he found out just exactly _where_ she was now. Then he would track her down until she was within his grasp once more. Iona Blackburn had better beware now, because as soon as Afton found her, she would not be alive for much longer. She would never escape him again. The hunter was coming for his prey.

~

Darkness. That was all she could see at first. Nothing else. Just darkness all around. There was silence at first too, but after a second, the muffled melody from what sounded like a music box played somewhere in the unknown distance. That was all she was aware of in the deep blackness all around her, surrounding her, engulfing her.

Soon however, the darkness slowly began to fade as her closed eyelids twitched until she found she had the strength to open them, lifting her head as she did so. Her vision was blurred, but after a couple of blinks, it cleared. Slowly, she became aware that she was in a room, propped upright in some kind of chair. She didn’t know how long she had been there, but she was surprised that her neck and spine didn’t ache from the awkward position she had been seated in whilst asleep. 

The room was dark, but this darkness was nowhere near as deep or as stifling as the one she had just left. In some places, a soft, bluish light reflected off the surfaces, betraying the characteristics of almost every individual item that surrounded her. Slowly, very slowly, she began to recognise each item one by one; the old camera monitors, the telephone, the crayon drawings on the walls, the plastic cupcake with its large eyes staring blankly at her through the darkness.

The office?

Confused, she gripped both hand rests of the chair and pushed herself up until she stood to her full height, cold, smooth tile beneath her bare feet. She looked around. It wasn’t just this room that was dark, the two open doorways on either side of her were pitch black, revealing absolutely nothing beyond. She shivered; it felt cold in this place, and inexplicably, she thought that it should’ve felt empty too, like she was alone, yet, knowing where she was, she knew nothing could’ve been further from the truth. She had faintly picked up on some kind of presence nearby, but it wasn’t the familiar, warm presence she was used to. This one felt mysterious, it felt alien. She listened for a moment, hoping for some kind of indication as to who or what this presence might be and where they were. All she could hear at first was the music box, still distant but a little clearer now, playing a slow, eerie melody, on a loop it would seem.

Seconds passed however before she sensed something else. A voice. Soft and distant, like a whisper. She didn’t _hear_ it exactly, but she definitely felt it, inside her. Like something was calling to her from within her very soul. There were no words that she could make out, and yet somehow, she understood what it was trying to tell her.

_Follow me_ , it had said.

Without knowing why, her attention was drawn to the doorway on her left side. The darkness beyond was undisturbed, just as it had been moments before. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone, or _something_ , was lurking out there somewhere, waiting for her. She thought she should’ve felt threatened by this unseen presence, but she didn’t. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was exactly, but there was definitely something about whatever it was that was out there that felt… not safe as such, but definitely trustworthy.

Unable to resist the call any further, she stepped forward, her bare soles padding softly against the tiled floor. Slowly, she approached the doorway, placing her hand on the frame when she reached it, peering cautiously out into the darkness. Further down the corridor, she could see the all too familiar flickering of the light at the very end, though something in the centre obscured her view into the next room. A dark figure stood at the end of the hallway. Tall and bulky, it clearly wasn’t a human figure. As she stared at it further, it slowly dawned on her on who it was. Even from how far away it was from her, she could definitely make out the distinct shapes. The top hat, the roundish bear ears.

_Freddy?_

She couldn’t be sure, but it certainly looked like him anyway. Though she couldn’t see any of the familiar brown of his fur. Apart from the shadowy black of the silhouette, the only other colour she could see on him was a sort of dark, ghostly purple hue.

Slowly, the figure turned around until it was looking directly at her. She flinched, feeling uneasy under its gaze. Under the silvery pinpoints of light which were its eyes, twinkling stars engulfed in the two large pools of darkness that were the empty sockets. Seconds later, it began to turn its head back, its eyes casting rotating beams of light around the room like a distant lighthouse searching for lost ships in the mist. Facing forward once more, it slowly began to step forward, its footsteps making no sound, until it disappeared out of sight.

_Follow me_ , came the silent voice again.

She didn’t know why, but she was pretty sure now that it was this mysterious figure she had just seen that was calling to her, that was somehow communicating with her. It wanted her to follow it, that much was obvious. But why? What did it want with her? Where was it going to take her?

As the questions continued to swim repeatedly through her mind, she took an uneasy step forward, then another, then another. Soon she was walking slowly down the dark corridor, still on her guard, preparing herself for whatever horrors or disturbing sights she knew awaited her. The repeated melody from the music box grew ever louder as she went until finally she reached the end of the hallway, the dying lightbulb still flickering above her though she barely noticed.

She looked around the dining room. Like the office, it too was in total darkness, though she could still make out the familiar shapes of the various tables, the chairs lined up against them and even the pointed party hats positioned at each seat. She glanced toward the stage in the far side of the room, but she could not see any hint of the mascots which should’ve stood there. Not even a set of large, glassy eyes penetrating through the darkness.

_Follow me._

There it was again, that same voice without sound. This time, her attention was drawn to the door at the opposite end of the room. It was slowly opening by itself, like someone had turned the knob but only pulled it a little bit inward, letting it swing open the rest of the way. The sound of the music box had gotten louder and clearer, seeming to be coming from within that room.

She gulped silently. She knew what had happened in that room so many years ago, what atrocities had been committed in there. For a moment, she stood stock still, eyes fixed firmly on the now opened doorway. She had no desire to go into that room, not even to go anywhere near the door. Yet she felt she could not resist the calls that came from within her to obey, to follow.

Giving in, she began to step forward once more, allowing herself to be guided by the mysterious force which seemed to be pulling her ever forward to the door. She reached it, placing her hand on the panel and pushing it all the way as she stepped in, the music box playing louder than ever before. She gasped, a light splashing sound was heard beneath her as her bare foot came into contact with something very wet, like she had stepped into a puddle. Jerking her foot back, she looked down to the floor. A thick, dark liquid seemed to have flooded most of the room. Though even in this deep darkness, she could still make out the ripples that spread out from where her foot had been and the quick, almost unnoticeable shimmers of red.

Blood? It seemed like the only thing it could have been.

_Follow me_ , called the silent voice again.

Though she remained where she was, staring horrified at the large pool of blood spilled out before her in all directions. She didn’t want to go any further, didn’t want to tread through this crimson ocean of death. Her wet foot, the one that had stepped into it, suddenly felt very dirty, contaminated even, yet she was too shocked to make any movements to try and clean it off her sole.

_Follow me_ , repeated the voice, more urgent this time.

Reluctantly, she obeyed at last. Slowly, she placed her foot out in front of her again, cringing as it settled into the thick, warm, sticky liquid beneath her, staining the bottom rim of her pyjama trousers. Another step forward, now she had both her feet in the blood. Now there was no going back. As she took more careful steps forward through this red pond, her stomach churned with each light splash she made beneath her, the blood bubbling up in between her toes with each step, but she forced down the rising urge to vomit. 

To distract herself, she decided to look up ahead of her. She was nearing the other door, the one at the opposite end of the little room, the one that had been locked for years. Finally stopping before it, she hesitated for a moment, confused. Why was she being led here? If this door had been locked for such a long time, the key having been missing since the day that infamous crime was committed, she wouldn’t be able to pass through it, would she?

Unless…

As she lifted her hand to turn the knob, she found her arm was shaking. She was afraid. Something horrible was behind that door, she had been told that during her first week on the job. She didn’t know what it was, only that she had no desire to see it.

_Follow me._

The voice was really quite insistent, like it didn’t care how she felt about this, like her seeing whatever was behind that door was the most important thing in the world. There was nothing she could do. How could she even begin to argue with a voice she couldn’t even hear, an entity she could no longer even see? She didn’t even know what that entity was. She grabbed the knob and turned. She had half expected it to stick, for the door to still be locked. Surprisingly, it gave way and she pushed the door open. It creaked loudly as she did, protesting against her commands, like old bones, stiff and reluctant to move after years of remaining still. Still she pushed, until finally, it was open all the way.

She found herself face to face with a blank wall. A dead end? No. Just as quickly, she noticed a faint reddish glow out the corner of her eye. Another corridor? Peering round the corner, she saw another room up ahead, with what looked like a metal step and a railing against the wall at the very end of the narrow corridor. The stairs to the cellar. The room was bathed in a bright, intense shade of red and it made her freeze to the spot once more, unwilling to venture any further. To her, it looked as though she was staring into the very entrance to Hell.

_Follow me._

Despite her strong desire to turn back, she responded to the call once more, turning into the corridor and slowly, cautiously making her way forward. The blood had continued on through this tiny, cramped hallway, some of it even staining the walls which were closed so tightly around her, her arms remained bent even as she pressed her hands hard against the smooth plaster. She came to the top step, it too smeared with blood. She flinched, her eyes bruised with the sudden brightness of the room in which she now stood. She squinted her eyes as she looked down. More stairs, a few flights that she could see, spiralling down, down, down into the fiery red abyss below. The stairs looked like they were made entirely from wire, unsafe to step on, like they wouldn’t be sturdy enough to support her weight, and she could see the never-ending trail of blood dripping from each step as they went down. A putrid smell also hung in the air, the pungent and suffocating odour of decaying flesh.

_Follow me._

As ever, she had absolutely no desire to obey the voice again. Instead, she wanted to turn and run away as fast as she could, not wishing to see whatever horrors lay beneath her. But she couldn’t help it. The call seemed to be pulling on her like a chain and she automatically took a shaking step down, then another, and another, gripping onto the railing to keep herself steady during her descent. On her way down, something out the corner of her eye caught her attention. Looking up, she only saw it for a split second, but she knew right away that it was the same, mysterious shadowy bear she had seen moments before. It disappeared as quickly as it had been seen down the next flight of stairs.

_Follow me. Follow me. Follow me._

The voice repeated itself over and over now, like a broken CD even though she couldn’t hear it. Still she followed, entirely against her will at this point. With each step she took down, the red light grew brighter, the music box’s melody faded above her and the stench of decay grew stronger. She wondered how long these stairs would go on for, how deep they would lead her. Down to the very core of the earth it would seem.

Soon however, she finally reached the bottom. The redness around her had taken on such an intense brightness that she had to shield her arm over her eyes for a moment. Eventually, she very gingerly brought her arm down as she took small, careful baby steps forward down the hallway before her, her eyes slowly becoming accustomed to the bright red all around her. Soon she could see clearly in front of herself again, though her eyes remained somewhat squinted against the light as she went further and further down the corridor. The bloody trail had continued on even at this point and the smell of decay began to grow stronger and stronger with each step. 

Ahead of her, she saw a room in the distance and she was sure this was her final destination, though she could no longer sense the figure’s presence anywhere around. She stopped for a brief moment. The blood was leading all the way up to that room, the room where the rotting smell was definitely coming from. She remembered that something horrifyingly gruesome was waiting for her in that room. She didn’t want to go in and see it. She wanted to turn and run back up the stairs to the safety of the main restaurant so she wouldn’t have to, but again, she found that she couldn’t, that the only way she could go was forward.

_Follow me. Follow me! FOLLOW ME!!!_

There was that voiceless call again. It felt even more urgent now and she couldn’t tell if it was frustrated with her constant hesitation or desperate for her to know whatever awful truth lay before her, waiting, needing to be discovered. Either way, she knew she had no choice but to follow, to behold what it was it wanted, needed her to see. Her heart now thumping wildly in her chest, dread began to rise from the pit of her stomach. She took another shaky step forward before, wanting to just get this over with, pushing herself to walk at a normal pace towards the room.

When she finally entered, she recoiled as the smell of decay hit her in the face, so strong and so pungent in her nostrils that she let out a disgusted grunt, throwing a hand over her nose and mouth. Her eyes began to water as the urge to throw up came back to her, stronger than ever. Letting a few tears fall, her vision began to clear itself once more as the bright redness around her slowly began to fade until she could clearly see the room in which she now stood, and the objects that now surrounded her.

Slowly lowering her hand from her face, she looked around the little room and found herself face to face with five lifeless animatronic animals positioned in various spots around her. They were spare animatronics. Or at least she hoped they were spares. Though they looked slightly different to the mascots usually seen upstairs, she recognised four of them instantly: Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. The fifth, she had never seen before in her life. A yellow bear, sitting propped up against, its arms hung loosely at its sides and its head bent at an awkward angle, resembling the sitting stance of a corpse. Its mouth hung wide open and there were no eyes that she could see, only two large, black empty sockets.

In fact, looking around at all the robots which surrounded her, she saw that, not only were they all in states of severe decay and disrepair, with rips and tears in their furry costumes from which wires stuck out or hung, their bodies covered head to toe in dust and cobwebs, but they were all positioned in similar ways. Freddy lay sprawled out on his back on the floor, his arm stretched out past his head, still clutching a microphone in his paw. His hat lay toppled over about a foot from his head and he stared back up at her with dead, lifeless eyes, a sight that set chills down her spine. Bonnie too was propped up against the wall, similarly to the yellow bear. One foot and one paw were completely stripped of any fur, exposing the endoskeleton underneath. His other arm was missing, leaving behind a mass of wires of varying colours hanging from his shoulder, like the arm had been savagely ripped off. But it was his face that horrified her the most. Except, he no longer had a face to speak of. It too had been torn away, revealing the eyeless endoskeleton head inside. Only the back of his head and his bottom jaw remained, the long ears almost hanging sadly down over the gaping abyss where the rabbit’s usually cheerful face should’ve been. Chica was seated nearby, only her body had toppled to one side. Her beak was wide open too, in fact her jaws had been irreparably unhinged, her bottom jaw hanging from wires from the rest of her head and her arms ended in stumps, even more wires hung out from the wrists where her hands should’ve been. Foxy lay completely on his side and was in even worse shape from when she had seen him before. Even more rips and tears covered his arms and his stomach was more savagely tattered, to the point where his red fur did not meet the rim of his trousers. One of his ears had also been stripped of its fur, again leaving behind that of the endoskeleton.

As she looked around at all of these broken down, lifeless counterparts of her friends, she noticed something else about them, something even more unsettling. A dark, glossy substance was oozing from each of their eyes and mouths, making them look like decomposing corpses. The strange liquid dripped down in slow, large drops onto the floor beneath them, mingling with the blood that had already stained it. Oil perhaps? No, it didn’t look quite thick enough, and it moved too much like blood. Fearing the worst, she hesitantly stepped across the room towards the mysterious yellow bear and knelt down in front of it. The rotting smell had gotten stronger then, making her gag a little; if she had a bad feeling about this before, it was now getting worse by the second. Arm shaking again, she reached out towards the bear’s face, took hold of its head and lifted it up so that it was now directly facing her.

She would’ve screamed, but no sound left her open mouth as she leapt back in horror at the sight before her. Inside the bear’s head, through its widely gaping jaws, was a face. Not a metal endoskeleton face, but a _human_ face! Even worse… a _child’s_ face! A young boy of about six or seven years of age. His round face was torn with clumps of curved metal biting deeply, violently into his flesh, looking almost as if his head had been fused with that of the bear’s around it. The same dark, glossy liquid that had been dripping from the mascot’s eyes and mouth was also streaming down his face from where the metal had sunk into his skin, which had turned a sickly green colour and now seemed to have taken on a mushy, wrinkled appearance. Though no matter how badly mutilated or decomposed the boy’s face was, a look of pain and terror was still etched into it, but his wide paled eyes continued stare blankly back at her, though never seeing her. The strange liquid, she realised then, could only have been a mixture of blood and mucous.

A shaking gasp escaped her as she raised a violently trembling hand up over her gaping mouth, utterly horrified at her discovery. She didn’t want to, but she forced herself to look around the room, around the four other robots lying like cadavers in a battlefield around her. Five… Five animatronics surrounded her in that one little room; the four that she recognised and the fifth, the one she had never seen before, the yellow bear she had just inspected. All them were still dripping from the sickening concoction from their faces. She didn’t need to examine the rest of them to understand. Five children had gone missing in this restaurant eighteen years ago. Five children had been murdered, their bodies hidden away, never to be found. _This_ was what had become of them.

Though before tears of horror could fall from her eyes, a sudden sound caused her to freeze on the spot. Laughing. Someone was laughing. A deep male voice, chuckling in what sounded like sinister amusement. It sounded as though it came from just in front of her, like the person who was laughing was in the room with her. But how? That was impossible. There had been no one else in here when she came in. The room was a tiny little box of a thing with no points of entry except for the one she had just come in through. Though before she could question it further, the room slowly began to turn darker and as it did, the laughter slowly grew louder. Looking back in front of her, she saw a dark figure standing mere inches before her. It looked almost human, except for the segmented limbs and the large ears sticking up from its head, like those of a rabbit. She thought she could catch glimpses of yellow fur on the costume. The figure had its back to her and its hunched shoulders were shaking in time with its laughter which had now escalated to some kind of maniacal joy. In one paw, it was tightly clutching a knife, its silver blade glinting from an unknown source of light and dripping with what still looked like fresh blood.

Her instincts instantly told her that she wasn’t safe, that she had to get out of that room fast, but before she could move, the figure turned, still cackling, until it faced her. She recognised it instantly. The yellow rabbit that had almost lured her away that day, though its once bright yellow fur was now matted with patches of blood all over its body. Beneath the hollow sockets of the mask, the human eyes inside locked with hers, fixing its gaze upon her, keeping her rooted to the spot as if it had cast a spell on her with that simple look, forbidding her to move, not allowing her to escape. Through the slacked jaws, she could see another mouth inside, cracked lips grinning wildly, revealing blackened teeth and gums. 

With its free paw, the rabbit reached up and gripped one of its ears, proceeding to pull off its own head. Once removed, the head was dropped to the floor where it landed at its feet and rolled a few inches away, dying itself completely red from the dark, bloody puddle stretching endlessly across the floor. She stared up in wide-eyed terror as the man behind the mask was revealed. It was the creepy man she had randomly met that day in the grocery store, the one with the sickly pale, gaunt face and the dark, lanky, greasy hair. And just like that day, he was staring at her with that same sadistic hunger that she recognised, only this time, his wide eyes made him look more animalistic, like he was ready to pounce on her and devour her alive.

He started to laugh again, a few short spurts of deranged giggles before quickly escalating once more to lunatic guffawing as he raised his knife high above his head. She wanted to run, she knew she had to, the adrenaline rushing through her veins, causing her heart to beat at an impossibly fast rate, but the panic in her had risen too rapidly, forcing her to remain where she was. Suddenly the man before her lunged forward, screeching out some kind of horrendous battle cry as the knife’s blade came swooping down towards her. Unable to run, the only thing her frozen body allowed her to do was throw both her arms over her face, vainly shielding herself from the sharp blow that was coming.

Iona screamed as she bolted upwards, suddenly awake. She was hyperventilating, so heavily that she whimpered with each short, desperate breath she struggled to take in, sweat soaking her through her pyjamas and her heart still thumping painfully in her chest as if she had just run a marathon. As she looked around, she very quickly began to recognise her surroundings. She was in her bedroom, in her apartment. Comforted by the familiar sight, at finding herself back in the real world, her breathing slowed as did her heart as she suddenly found herself calming down. She puffed out a huge sigh of relief though she was still trembling from shock. That had to have been the worst nightmare she’d ever had. It was just so vivid and so coherent, as if it had really been happening to her. But it hadn’t, it was just a bad dream.

Yet somehow, those horrible images seemed to still be burned into her mind. Closing her eyes, she could see it all again. The trail of blood along the dark corridor floors, the broken animatronics with blood and mucous leaking from their faces, the dead child’s rotting face inside the mask, the knife-wielding maniac in the rabbit costume. Shuddering, she snapped her eyes back open, not wanting to stay in that dark world any longer.

All the lights were off in her room, but it wasn’t exactly dark as the bright sunlight shone in through the narrow crack between her closed curtains. She glanced over at her bedside clock. 12:15 pm. She groaned, the adrenaline rush brought on by the nightmare had worn off, leaving her feeling exhausted, but she didn’t allow herself to go back to sleep. For one, she would pretty much sleep away the next several hours, wasting the rest of the day. But also, she didn’t dare risk a rerun of that dream, or even having one that was more horrific, if indeed that was possible.

Pulling the covers off herself, Iona stood from the bed, fighting to keep herself steady on a pair of shaking legs which felt as if they would snap under her weight at any second. She stretched and proceeded to head through to the bathroom for her usual morning grooming routine. Once she had washed, she went through to the kitchen and cooked herself some porridge, thinking that an extra energising breakfast might be ideal for today.

As she sat down to eat, she found herself feeling very confused. She had felt completely calm the previous night. Happy even, elated. She had unexpectedly found love again, and even more surprisingly, it was with Freddy, who had been her best friend since she’d come back to work at the pizzeria. Despite the obvious differences between them, she was confident that he would be good for her. He had murdered hundreds of people over the years, yes, but she had long since forgiven that, seeing that he wasn’t _truly_ evil at heart. To her at least, he was kind, loving, friendly, respectful, but above all, protective. She’d honestly never felt happier or safer than she had that night, even as she had reluctantly left work to return home. So why would she start to have nightmares again that same night? She had somewhat expected to have dreams involving Freddy, obviously, but nothing anywhere near as gruesome or horrifying as that! Quite the opposite, in fact. She didn’t know what she ought to have expected exactly, but she felt it should’ve been warmer, more pleasant and more soothing. A nice dream. So why a nightmare instead? It just didn’t make any sense at all.

Very quickly though, she found that it didn’t actually matter. She was still shaken by the dream, and as a result, she no longer felt safe in her own apartment. Not while she was by herself. It was ridiculous, she knew that, of course. It was only a dream after all and it didn’t necessarily mean that her home was any less safe now than it was this morning. Nevertheless, it had filled her with a creeping sense of dread, like something bad was going to happen to her if she was alone for too long. She hated this about herself, the fact that she could be so easily freaked out, even about the stupidest of things. She hated even more that she felt the occasional need to reach out to someone, _anyone_ who would listen, anyone who cared, for comfort and reassurance. Ever since she had moved into her own home, she had been trying so hard to be more independent, more confident in taking care of herself and making it through the rest of her life on her own. Though she also knew there would still be times when solitude would be the very last thing she’d need to help her through. It was just her bad luck really that this sudden shadow of anxiety would come upon her at the very start of the weekend, during which she wouldn’t be at work.

Or what if she could? What if she called Lenny and asked to be allowed to work an extra night this week? Would he be able to pay her overtime, knowing how very poor the pizzeria’s profits had been these last two decades? In fact, that didn’t matter either. She wasn’t going back for a higher pay, she was going because she didn’t want to be on her own for the entirety of the next forty-eight hours. She wanted their company, her friends’ company. That, she knew, would be the best source of comfort for her. It had been since she had gotten the job as night guard there. No matter how scared or upset she felt, she could always count on them to instantly make her feel better with their kind, supportive words and their silly, comical antics.

No. It wasn’t exactly them she wanted to see. It was _him_. Freddy. She wanted to see Freddy. Especially now that she had him, she wanted to see him again, more than ever. To be sure that she really _did_ have him, to be with him. It was, after all, where she felt the safest. She could tell him about the nightmare, she could spew out all her horror and anxiety to him, and he would understand. He would nod his head and listen. He wouldn’t judge her for how scared it made her feel, not if she were to burst into tears right in front of him, especially not after something as silly as a bad dream. And when she was finished, he would take her into his strong arms and embrace her. He would stroke her hair with his large paw and whisper softly to her that everything would be alright. He would very likely even take her face into both of his paws and kiss her, the last nail in the coffin to chase all her fears away. He would keep her safe, would not allow anything bad to happen to her.

It was pathetic, thinking things like this. She could take care of herself, she knew that, but she couldn’t help it. Right now, there was nowhere else at all in the world she would rather be than in that pizzeria, than with Freddy, than in his protective embrace. Right now, it seemed like her only hope of comfort and consolation.

Finishing her breakfast, Iona dumped her empty bowl into the sink and, without even thinking to wash it, dashed off into the living room area and towards the phone. She reached out to it as she approached it, as if the call she was about to make was the most important task she would ever carry out, and grabbed the receiver from the hook. Very quickly, she dialled the number, lifted the receiver to her ear and waited in anticipation as she heard the first few rings from the other end, hoping Lenny wouldn’t take too long to answer.

Finally, the familiar click was heard, indicating that the phone had been picked up, and Iona was relieved to hear her manager’s friendly voice answer: “Hello, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, manager’s office. How can I help?”

“Hey, Lenny,” she said, trying vainly to hide her anxiety and keep a more casual tone in her voice. “It’s me again, Iona.”

“Iona…?” he asked, seemingly confused and also a little bit concerned. “So soon after I’d only seen you this morning? Is everything okay?”

“U-uh, yeah,” she stammered awkwardly. “E-everything’s fine. Listen, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“Oh?” asked Lenny, sounding more concerned now.

“I-I was wondering if…” she trailed off, really fighting now to sound less anxious. “If it’d be okay for me to come in for an extra shift tonight.”

“Tonight?” Lenny questioned again. “You mean… during one of your nights off?”

Iona hesitated, having heard the uncertainty in her boss’ voice as if she had just made an almost unreasonable suggestion. “…Yes…”

“Hmm…” she heard him mutter thoughtfully, picturing him scrunching his face uncertainly and scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “I’m sure that’d be fine, Iona. It’s just I don’t know if I’d be able to pay you overtime.”

“Oh no, you don’t have to,” she reassured him, surprising herself at how quickly she was able to come up with the following excuse. “You said yourself you wouldn’t deduct those couple of nights I took off from my pay check. Just… think of this as me making up for that.”

“Oh, you really don’t have to do that, Iona,” Lenny told her. “You weren’t feeling so great after all, and that wasn’t your fault.”

This time, Iona didn’t feel quite so bad about letting her boss believe that. Because this time, it was sort of true. That morning, when she had stayed after the end of her shift to collect her pay check from him, she had admitted to him that she had lied about being sick. She hadn’t told him her _real_ reason for leaving work early, only that it was due to some very personal reasons and she wasn’t sure if that would be an acceptable enough excuse. But Lenny as ever had been completely understanding of her, not being mad at her for lying to him and saying that personal issues would’ve in fact been a good enough reason to take some time off. 

“I know, but please,” she insisted. “I’d still feel bad if I were to let you pay me for nights I hadn’t come into work.” That was also true, though he would certainly have reassured her otherwise if she’d given him the chance to. But that wasn’t her reason for insisting upon this. She just wanted to get back into that pizzeria, back in Freddy’s presence, as soon as possible. If only her boss would just let her. “Please, Lenny?”

There a brief moment of silence before Lenny finally said, “Okay, if you insist.”

“Oh, thank you so much,” she breathed out, feeling all her anxiety flushing out of her system, to be replaced with relief.

“No problem,” said Lenny again. “Is there anything else you need?”

“No, that will be all, thanks,” Iona told him.

“Is something wrong, Iona?” Lenny asked her once more, the mild concern back in his voice.

Iona bit her lip. Her manager obviously sensed something was up with her, having heard the nervousness in her tone, but again, she found herself in a position where she wasn’t sure she could tell him the truth.

_What do I say? “I had a bad dream, so I wanna come back to work for an extra night because only my new robot boyfriend can cheer me up.”? He’ll think I’m crazy. …Well, I guess that_ is _true, but still…_

“No, everything’s fine, I promise,” she said, hating that she still sounded a little flustered. “Sorry about all this. I’ll let you go now and get back to work.”

“Well… okay,” replied Lenny, not sounding completely convinced. “See you later, Iona.”

“See ya,” she answered before quickly hanging up the phone. She heaved out another sigh, but her relief quickly faded. Having been allowed to work an extra night, despite the possibility of a lack of payment for overtime, she should’ve felt like a load had been taken off her mind. But, having ended the conversation with her boss, she found herself all alone in her dark little apartment again. And it was still the afternoon, meaning there were still so many hours left before she would leave for Freddy’s. Too many hours alone, plenty of time for the images from her nightmare to come flashing back to her, haunting her with each passing second.

_It was just a bad dream! Why is it still affecting me so much?_

She couldn’t explain it. Normally, when she had a bad dream, the terror it had brought to her in sleep would’ve worn off by now, long after she had awoken and realised that what she saw wasn’t real. She’d even had nightmares about disasters and tragedies that had occurred in the real world too, and she would still be shaken by them for a little while afterwards. But even then, they had never seemed so real nor had they ever filled her with this long-lasting sense of dread, this unshakable impression that something terrible was going to happen.

Was it more than just a dream then? Did it somehow have a deeper meaning?

In her waking life, she had never seen or even learned what happened to the children’s bodies after they had disappeared. Nobody had. Could this then have been some unconscious theory she had unknowingly formed in her mind of what had become of them, that was now coming to the surface? Or… could this have been a vision she had had. No… She shook her head. That was impossible. People didn’t have visions in their dreams, of the past, present _or_ future. She had heard stories of people claiming to have had predictions or premonitions, having seen things that had happened years before, things that were happening elsewhere at that moment, or even things that hadn’t happened yet, but she’d never once believed a word of it. She never believed that psychic powers really existed. So how could she even begin to believe that she herself was capable of seeing such things if not other people? Unless, if it _was_ a vision, it had been caused by some sort of outside force rather than something from within herself. What if someone, or something, was reaching out to her from somewhere, trying to tell her exactly what had happened to the five missing children? And for what reason? To implore her to do something about it, to bring justice to the killer and peace to his victims? Or as a warning that something even more terrible was soon to occur? She would never have believed any of that either, but she couldn’t be sure. After everything she had seen and heard since getting that job, everything she had learned since then, she just couldn’t be sure of anything anymore. She shuddered; now she had some kind of idea as to why the dream still unsettled her so much.

Freddy… She just wanted to be with Freddy. How could she cope with being alone all these hours during which the effects of her dream would still continue to torment her until she could finally see him again? With all these thoughts still racing through her mind, driving her to near insanity?

_For God’s sake, Iona!_ she scolded herself as she stood and marched away from the phone. _You’re a lot stronger than this. You’ve been allowed to go back tonight, that is enough. You can deal with this on your own until then!_

Well, she would try anyway. Picking up the remote control, she switched on her TV, hoping that the brash, annoying sound of a news reporter or a sitcom episode would be enough to distract her from the memories of her nightmare and keep her rooted in the real world, in the here and now. Focusing all her attention to the background sounds from the TV, she headed back into the kitchen area and proceeded to wash her dirty dishes.

~

Finally, night had fallen and Iona found herself running through the empty streets on her way to the pizzeria. In truth, she had dreaded going out in the dark, and now that she was outside, all by herself, it made her feel even more on edge than she was before. At home, she was at least safe, though she hadn’t felt like it at all. Her daily chores had done nothing to distract her from the uncomfortably long-lasting effects of her dream. Besides, she had already begged Lenny to let her work an extra night and there was no way she could back down from that now. Also, at home, though safe, she was alone too. Despite being someone who would normally keep to herself, whenever she had a panic attack, was filled with an unbearable sense of dread or simply had a bad feeling about something, the feeling had always been so enhanced when she was alone. It had always made her feel worse. Somehow it always made her feel all the more vulnerable to her own thoughts and all she wanted, all she _needed_ in fact, was someone, anyone there with her, to keep her anchored to the reality of how safe she actually was. How safe she _hopefully_ was.

It was hopeless. No matter how hard she had tried to be strong all day, as usual, her anxiety had gotten the better of her in the end. Yet, despite how badly she had desired to be back at the pizzeria for that extra night, it was still an effort to force herself out her front door, out of her entire apartment complex, to make her way through the dark, empty streets to get to work. It wasn’t the journey itself she was uncomfortable with. She had been working at Freddy’s for about a month now. She had walked through the streets at night to get to work many times. Though being alone in a dark place had always brought unease to her, especially if she was outside or in an unfamiliar place, she had done this enough times for her to get over that fear, for her to get used to the dark. But now that she’d had that dream, the dread it had filled her with made her even more paranoid about traveling through the dark on her own than she had been before. She was now more acutely aware of just vulnerable she would be in that position when she had once taken it for granted. It would not be as easy for her tonight as it was the night before.

Though no matter how uncomfortable she felt about it, no matter how much unease she felt just thinking about it, her eagerness to be with her friends, to be with Freddy, was still much stronger. That was what had given her the drive she needed to get out and run as fast as she could without drawing too much attention to herself through the streets, looking around herself or back over her shoulder more often than before. At least the bright yet soft glow of the street lamps brought her some vague sense of security. At least then, she would be able to see if something or someone was nearby watching her, following her. Thankfully she had remained alone the entire journey.

Finally the restaurant appeared in the distance, making Iona feel a little bit safer at last, seeing that she was finally almost there. Just a few yards more and she would be inside, in the reassuring company of her friends, in the protective arms of Freddy. Then she could vent to him about the dream and hopefully be well and truly reassured that it really _was_ just a dream, that it didn’t actually mean anything bad was going to happen. Even if the subject of said dream was a real tragedy that had taken place within the pizzeria walls, a tragedy she herself had almost fallen victim to.

Reaching the double glass doors at last, she took out her keys and, with trembling hands, struggled to put the key into the lock. She soon managed however, opening the door and letting herself inside, making a firm point to lock the doors behind her.

“Iona?”

At the sound of her name, Iona spun round and saw Bonnie and Chica, both still standing on the stage and looking towards her in confusion.

“Hey, guys,” she said a little breathlessly. During her journey, she had been too anxious to notice how much energy she had been using, though she hadn’t actually been running that fast.

“What are you doing here tonight?” asked Bonnie, stepping down from the stage and making his way towards her.

“Yeah, isn’t this your night off?” Chica also questioned, following closely behind him.

Iona didn’t answer their questions; she wasn’t really listening. Upon entering the building, she had instantly noticed that Freddy, the animatronic she _really_ wanted to see, was nowhere in sight.

“Where’s Freddy?” she asked them, eyes darting around the room almost frantically.

“Sulking in the bathrooms again, as he sometimes does,” Bonnie answered her, tilting his head back in the direction of the restrooms. A grin appearing on his face, he then started to add with a laugh, “Heh, guess he’d already started to -”

Though before the rabbit could finish, Iona briskly brushed past him and, without even thinking of going to her office, went straight towards the bathrooms. Both robots’ eyes quickly followed the guard as she disappeared through the doorway, staring after her in bewilderment.

“…miss you…” Bonnie finished awkwardly.

“Loo-oo-ooks li-i-i-i-ike the fee-ee-ee-eelin’ be mu-u-u-utual,” commented Foxy, stepping out of Pirate Cove as he too gazed towards the bathroom entrance with a small smile.

“Aren’t they just adorable together?” sighed Chica adoringly, beaming affectionately as she clasped both her feathered hands together and brought them up near her cheek in that dreamy sort of way.

~

Freddy was in the girls’ bathroom, slowly pacing back and forth with his eyes cast down towards the tiled floor though they were unfocused. He too was filled with a pressing sense of discomfort. Something was on his mind, something that had been bothering him since the night before, since the moment he and Iona had admitted their feelings to each other. Suddenly, the sound of rapid footsteps was heard coming towards the restrooms, forcing the bear out of his thoughts as he turned to face the doorway. To his surprise, none other than Iona herself appeared, walking quickly towards Freddy with an anxious expression on her face.

“Iona?” he asked, confused as to why she would be here on what should have been her night off. “Why are you -”

He was cut off when the guard, without stopping, went straight for him and wrapped her arms tightly around him, burying her face in the fur of his shoulder.

“Hey,” he said softly, returning the hug. He could feel her shaking against him and it caused him to tighten his arms around her smaller form. “What’s all this?”

“I-I…” she stuttered, her voice shaking as though about to be accompanied by tears. “I had a nightmare last night. I just… wanted to see you.”

“A nightmare?” he questioned, his confusion instantly replaced with concern. Pushing her away slightly, his paws remained on her shoulders as he looked her in the eyes. “What happened?”

Iona opened her mouth to answer him, to tell him everything she saw in her dream, but, inexplicably, found that she couldn’t. She tried to speak, but her voice just seemed to be refusing to leave her throat, no matter how much her mind was screaming at her to just tell him. Very frustrating. She had been anxious to let it all out to him all day since she’d woken up, but now that the time had finally arrived, she just couldn’t seem to breathe a single word of it. Perhaps it was the fear of reliving it all that was now holding her back at the last minute?

After a short moment of staring awkwardly back at him like a guppy fish, with wide eyes and her mouth agape, she shook her head apologetically. “No… sorry,” was all she could say.

Freddy smiled understandingly and nodded his head, accepting her response without question. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he said.

_Except I do_ , she thought, unable to look at him anymore. She suddenly felt ashamed for not being able to tell him what she had so desperately wanted to.

“In fact, I’m glad you’re here now,” he went on, his expression becoming more serious. “I need to talk to you.”

Iona looked back up at him, her attention fully on him once more. “Oh…” she said, the feeling of dread coming back to her now, though this time for a different reason. “Is it… about us?”

Freddy shook his head. “Not _about_ us, exactly,” he stated. “But certainly _because_ of us.”

“I see…” breathed Iona, her gaze lowering again as she began to fear the worst. She didn’t know why, but she was now aware of her heart beginning to sink. When someone you’re romantically involved with suddenly told you that they wanted to talk to you, that usually meant they were about to tell you something you really didn’t want to hear, like the affair was over or something dreadful like that. Had Freddy finally come to his senses then and realised that a relationship between a human and a robot could never work after all?

Seeing her gloomy expression, Freddy chuckled quietly and shook his head again. “Don’t worry, I’m not dumping you,” he said, as if reading her thoughts as he lightly patted her cheek with his paw.

Hearing those words, Iona looked up at the bear again, a light smile forming on her face as she breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Quite the opposite, in fact,” Freddy went on. Then, his smile fading along with his joviality, he continued, “The thing is, Iona…” He paused, and the guard could see the hesitation in his eyes, like he was suddenly unsure on whether he could really have this talk with her or not. “There’s something you still don’t know about me. I never told you about it before because I didn’t think you’d ever need to know. But since we’re now… you know… together, I figured there shouldn’t be any secrets between us anymore.”

Iona tilted her head to the side and looked at Freddy, confused. This guy had _another_ secret she still didn’t know about? Seriously? Just how mysterious could an animatronic bear be anyway? “Okay…” she finally said. “I’m listening.”

“Well, it’s kind of a long story,” Freddy told her. “Not a very pleasant one either. And it might come as a bit of a shock to you, so you’d better find a place to sit down first.”

Another shock? Great, that was _just_ what she needed right now. However, Freddy was technically her boyfriend now (in a way), so she was still more than willing to hear what it was he wanted to tell her. Without saying a word, she manoeuvred herself so she was leaning against the sinks with her back to the mirrors. Pressing both palms down on the surface, she hoisted herself up until she was seated on the sinks, still gazing expectantly at Freddy, her nightmare and the resulting overwhelming sense of dread suddenly the furthest things from her mind.

Freddy let out a deep sigh. “God, where do I even start…?” he breathed, rubbing the back of his head. It was clear to Iona now that sharing this secret would be very hard for him. Eyes closed, he took a few seconds to prepare himself before he finally announced, “I’m… not who you think I am.”

Iona narrowed her eyes at the bear, her confusion rising. “What do you mean?”

Freddy looked at her, locking her gaze with his own, as if indicating to her that she must believe what he was about to tell her, no matter how fantastical it would sound. “True my name is Freddy,” he elaborated. “But… I’m not really Freddy _Fazbear_ , if that makes any sense.”

Iona shook her head. “Not a bit,” she answered. “Care to explain?”

“I intend to,” he replied with a nod. He then took another few seconds to try and think of the correct words to use in explaining himself. “You remember that old restaurant I told you about before?”

Iona didn’t answer right away. Instead, she just blinked with confusion as her brain struggled to recall the mention of another restaurant. Very quickly it came back to her and her eyes lit up with recognition. 

“Oh, yeah!” she chirped, though, sensing that this story would go somewhere dark as these stories always did, she wasn’t smiling. “You mean the one that had those faulty spring lock suits?”

Freddy nodded. “It was called ‘Fredbear’s Family Diner’,” he told her. “And it was owned by a middle-aged couple who had a son in his mid-twenties. _His_ name was Freddy.”

“Ah…” said Iona, nodding her head slowly as comprehension started to dawn on her. “So… you were named after this son then?”

Freddy stared hard at Iona, neither nodding nor shaking his head this time. “Not just named after him,” he answered. “I _am_ him.”

At this, Iona’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open in disbelief. “What!?” she exclaimed.

Freddy’s eyes softened as he nodded in understanding at the guard’s shock. “Yeah,” he simply answered. “‘Fredbear’ was a cute nickname my parents used to give me when I was little. Guess it was out of sheer sentiment that they would give that name to their restaurant’s main mascot too.”

“Whoa whoa, hold up, hold up!” retorted Iona, holding both her hands up. “You seriously mean to tell me that you were actually _human_ once?”

Another nod from Freddy. “I did warn you this news would be shocking to you,” he told her.

“But…” Iona trailed off, still unable to believe what she was hearing. “If that _is_ true, then how did you become…?”

“A robot?” Freddy filled in for her after an awkward pause.

“Yeah, how is that even possible?” she asked.

“Well, even at the time,” Freddy explained. “My parents’ diner wasn’t the only kid-friendly restaurant in town that featured animatronic mascots. There was another one, not far away. I can’t remember what its name was exactly, it didn’t exist long enough for it to have any meaning to me. But it was owned by a close friend of my dad’s.”

“And who was that?” asked Iona curiously.

At that moment, Freddy paused, anger beginning to simmer in his blue eyes as he struggled to force himself to say the name. Finally, he answered, almost growling, “William Afton.”

Iona let out a small gasp. She wasn’t sure why; she had never heard that name before so it meant nothing to her at first. Though by the way Freddy had spoken it, she guessed that it meant something very significant.

“The two restaurants were the most popular in town,” Freddy continued, his tone still somewhat dark. “And because of the constant competition between Afton’s pizzeria and that of my parents’, people began to believe that there was a rivalry between them. But that was never at all the case, especially not with the close friendship Afton and my dad had shared. Afton himself preferred to think of his restaurant as his ‘sister location’. He and my dad constantly shared ideas for their pizzerias with one another, and even went as far as taking inspiration from each other too. It was as if they ran the same company and were in charge of their own branches.”

Iona nodded, understanding what he meant. “So what happened to Afton’s restaurant then?” she questioned.

Freddy shook his head solemnly. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “All I heard one day was that it had been shut down abruptly due to some horrific accident that had occurred there. I never found out what that accident was. In fact, I don’t think anybody did. It was never reported in the newspapers or anything, which I’d always thought was very strange. But at the same time, it seemed Afton too had vanished off the face of the earth. Nobody, not I, either of my parents, anyone who worked in our restaurant, or even anyone we knew in town, nobody knew what had happened to him or even seen or heard from him for a long time afterwards. Those of us that were close to him soon started to worry. Some of us even began to fear the worst. Until… _that_ day…”

When Freddy didn’t immediately elaborate further, Iona tilted her head to the side, still staring at him expectantly with one eyebrow raised. “What day, Freddy?”

“It had started just out like any other day,” he went on mournfully, casting his eyes up towards the ceiling. “I was helping out in my parents’ diner as usual. We were hosting a birthday party if my memory serves me. I remember watching as one of our employees dressed in the Fredbear costume walked around the dining room, serving cake to a bunch of screaming kids, when something out the front window caught my attention.”

“What did you see?” asked Iona once more.

“A little girl,” Freddy answered. “She just stood there with her hands and forehead pressed against the window, staring in at the party, at all the kids eating their cake and enjoying themselves. She looked kind of sad and I quickly noticed that she was by herself, no parents or even an older sibling with her.”

“Really…?” spoke Iona sympathetically, picturing the little sad child staring longingly in at the party through the window, imagining how she could’ve wished she had been there, that she had known the other kids, that she had been invited to join in such fun.

“I was just about to go to her,” continued Freddy. “To see if there was anything I could do to help her. But I had barely taken a step forward when something else suddenly came into the view.”

As he finished that last sentence, Freddy’s voice had taken a much darker tone. This set Iona on edge; somehow, something was telling her that she was about to hear something truly horrifying. 

“What was it?” she asked.

“A car pulled up outside the diner,” answered Freddy. “And parked itself right behind the child. I recognised it immediately, I had seen it parked in the driving lot enough times.” He looked her dead in the eyes. “It was _his_ car.”

“ _His_?” Iona repeated, confused by the emphasis before it quickly dawned on her. “You mean… Afton’s car?”

Freddy nodded again. “Yes,” he answered, his voice low with contempt. “And everything that followed happened so fast that sometimes I can’t tell if I can trust my own memory or if my mind had completely altered how it had occurred.”

Iona looked at Freddy, the feeling of dread returning ever so slowly to her. “What happened?” she asked somewhat hesitantly, not entirely sure if she really _did_ want to know.

Another pause from Freddy as he allowed Iona a brief moment to prepare herself for the horrors she was about to hear. “The car door opened and _he_ , Afton, stepped out,” he said. “But he was barely recognisable from the last time I had seen him. Before, he had always seemed like a cheerful, enthusiastic man, so full of life, and of a robust build. All I saw that day was a sickly thin figure with a gaunt, empty expression. His eyes too were empty, yet, at the same time, wild. He looked as though he had been maddened by some unknown tragedy. Worst of all, his eyes seemed to be entirely fixed on the child in front of him. His mouth was twitching like he was fighting not to allow a berserk smile to show through. In his hand… he held a knife.”

Iona tensed up even more. She knew right away where this was going and she didn’t want to hear any more. Yet somehow she couldn’t bring herself to stop Freddy from continuing.

“Knowing instantly what his intention was,” Freddy went on. “I started to rush across the diner floor towards the door, to try and reach the child and rescue her, but I was too late. Afton was faster, closer to her, and he reached her first. In one swift motion it seemed, he grabbed the child from behind and plunged the knife deep into her chest, killing her instantly.”

Eyes widened with horror, Iona made no sound as she brought both hands up over her gaping mouth. “Oh, my God…” she lamented her disbelief. “Right outside the diner!?”

Freddy nodded. “The child let out a strangled cry as she died,” he continued. “Everyone in the restaurant heard it and their attention was drawn to the site of her body slumping back against Afton before he let her drop to the ground, retreating quickly back to his car and driving off instantly, gone within seconds. The children were now screaming for another reason.”

“Oh, God…” Iona breathed again, suddenly feeling faint as she imagined being in the shoes of one of the kids in that diner, having just witnessed the sudden and brutal murder of another child right before her eyes. How terrified she would’ve felt. How she would’ve desperately screamed and cried for her parents. How her sleep would’ve been disturbed by nightmares of the crime for the rest of her life.

“Needless to say,” Freddy carried on. “I was just so mortified by what I had just seen that for a moment, though it felt much longer at the time, all I could do was just stand and stare in shock towards the now blood-stained window. Everything had gone into slow motion and I could barely hear the children shrieking and crying around me. Though eventually, I felt my shock slowly seeping out of me to replaced by anger. Soon I was shaking with fury, unable to believe that who I had first thought to be a kind, friendly and perfectly sane man would actually go out of his way to do something so monstrous, and in full view of other children too.”

Iona nodded in agreement. She was still too shocked to speak, but she too could feel the same anger that had filled Freddy at the time now beginning to fill her.

“I should’ve just gone straight to the police,” Freddy told her, regret now evident in his voice. “I should’ve reported him for the crime as soon as I could move again. But I was just so filled with anger that I wasn’t thinking straight anymore. So instead, my first move was to chase after him, to confront him about it, which was my big mistake.”

“How so?” asked Iona.

“Well, I’m not sure how I was able to guess it exactly,” explained Freddy. “But something told me that the next place he would go was his own home, and that was where I went. After he had gone, I immediately left the diner, without telling anyone, not even my parents, where it was I was going. I followed Afton to his home, barged in through his front door and searched for him, shouting out his name until I found him upstairs in his room. He was just sitting on the bed, staring into space and yet somehow trying to act as though nothing had happened. But simply seeing him again in that instant was enough to fill me with even more rage than ever.”

“What did you do then?” questioned Iona.

“I told him I had seen what he had done,” Freddy told her. “And then proceeded to tell him exactly what I thought of him, calling him every insult under the sun. Frustratingly, he never responded to anything I said to him, never tried to shout back or justify himself, just continued to stare into the distance as if I wasn’t even there. This got me even more riled up until I grabbed his collar and started to scream in his face, even threw a couple of punches at him. I think I even broke his nose at one point. It was no use, I just couldn’t get a response out of him, couldn’t get the explanation that I demanded the entire time I was there. Eventually, I decided that any explanation at all wouldn’t have mattered anyway. What he had done was monstrous and nothing in the world could ever have justified it. I told him as much, and the last thing I said to him was that I was going to report him to the police.”

“And did you?” asked Iona again.

Freddy shook his head solemnly. “No, I never even had the ghost of a chance to,” he answered. “As I was marching out of his room and reached the stairs, I was aware of his presence quickly approaching me from behind. I didn’t even have time to respond before I felt a pair of hands pushing me forward. The last thing I remember was falling and bashing myself in various places on my body against the stairs as I fell, my head, my limbs and my ribs, before, halfway down, everything went black.”

Iona let out another gasp, bringing her hand up over her mouth again as an upsetting realisation of what this meant slowly started to sink in.

“When I came to, however,” Freddy continued. “I found myself in a dark room, which I quickly recognised as the storage room in my parents’ diner. I then noticed that there was something covering my face, my entire head in fact, and I was staring out through another pair of eye sockets, like I was wearing a mask. I tried to move, but my entire body felt a lot heavier than it had before. It took some serious effort even to just turn my head to the side and when I did, I saw that I was surrounded by some of the new animatronic characters I had on occasion seen my dad working on. I saw the rabbit, the chicken and the fox. But the bear… I slowly started to fill with dread as it occurred to me just where he might’ve been. I dared myself to look down and immediately saw that… I was no longer human.”

Hearing this, Iona stared at Freddy, more shocked than ever. It was pretty obvious to her now what had ultimately become of him. “You… woke up as Freddy Fazbear?” she asked, unable to keep the horror out of her voice. “As in… _inside_ of him?”

“Well, my consciousness had certainly taken over him anyway,” Freddy confirmed.

“But how is that even possible?” asked Iona again, confused.

Freddy shrugged. “I guess that on my way down those stairs, I had broken my neck and died instantly,” he told her, making her feel sick to her stomach. “I guess Afton then came up with the clever idea of covering this second murder by finding a place to hide my body, and he had picked one of the new robots my dad was creating in the diner’s archives. Which better character to hide my body inside than the very one which shared the same name as me? I guess that cruel irony had amused him somewhat.”

“Oh, my God…” sighed Iona, shaking her head in disbelief. “But then…” she went on, still confused. “How could your consciousness then take over the robot, especially if you were already dead when you were put inside it?”

“Very simple,” answered Freddy. “Once my physical body was rendered useless, my spirit then went on to possess the animatronic I’d been stuffed into.”

“Oh, Freddy…” Iona’s voice was barely above a whisper. “That’s so horrible.”

“Hmm…” responded Freddy, nodding in agreement. “I was reported missing not long afterwards, which really distressed my parents something awful. And honestly, I was kind of hoping that my body would’ve been left inside the mechanical suit long enough for any outwards signs of decomposition to lead to my discovery, but alas, Afton was far too clever for that.”

Iona pressed a hand on her chest, trying vainly to slow the suddenly rapid beating of her heart as the horrifying image of the child’s dead, rotted face inside the yellow bear suit came flooding back to her in that instant, Freddy’s description of his own fate sounding unbearably similar.

“So he returned to the diner the following night after it had been closed, removed my mutilated corpse from the robot and took it away,” Freddy continued, as if he hadn’t even noticed Iona’s reaction. “I suppose to dump it in a nearby river or something. I can’t be sure. I’ll never know what he did with it because my spirit was already trapped inside Freddy Fazbear animatronic, you see.”

“So… Is that why the diner was shut down then?” asked Iona.

Freddy nodded. “Yes,” he said. “The police were investigating both that child’s death and my following disappearance simultaneously, but because my body could never be found, they eventually gave up looking for me and I was declared legally dead. This also soon led to my parents leasing their diner to the company that was to be Fazbear Entertainment, obviously feeling like they could no longer run the place without me. I guess the family business would never have been the same after that.”

“No, I don’t suppose it would’ve,” Iona agreed quietly, her voice strained as she fought back tears of horror and sympathy. Sympathy for Freddy and for the loving family he had left behind.

“I wanted to communicate with my parents to let them know that it was me,” continued Freddy. “But because all the new animatronics had been deactivated as we were taken away, I was sadly unable to get through to them. I’ve been wondering the halls of this new pizzeria every night since, never knowing if they’d ever found out what happened to me. To this day, I still don’t even know where they are, if they’re still alive or not, if they ever got over losing me or if their grief is still as fresh now as it would’ve been then.”

When Freddy finally finished his awful story, Iona remained silent for a moment, struggling to let everything she had just heard sink in. She just couldn’t believe it. All this time, before she’d ever set foot in the pizzeria, Freddy Fazbear, the character from her childhood who at first seemed so jolly and cheerful, as if untouched by anger, grief or even trauma, was a dead man walking all along. In that moment, she found she understood him a little more. Why the murders of the five children had affected him so much, why it had driven him to his own killing spree. Also, with all three factors put together, why he had seemed so sorrowful when she returned.

“Freddy…” she finally spoke, sliding down from the sinks so she was on her feet again. All the horror in her had drained away, leaving behind only the overwhelming sympathy she felt for the bear before her. “Freddy, I’m glad you told me this.” She took a few steps forward and gripped one of his arms, pulling it into an embrace as she leaned her head against the side of his shoulder. “I’m so sorry…”

Freddy looked down towards her and his eyes softened, reassured that the guard as ever remained understanding of him, even after just dropping this secret on her that he had kept from her all these years. Smiling lightly, he reached his paw up and cupped it around her own shoulder, an awkward, sort of sideways embrace.

“Please don’t feel sad for _me_ , Iona,” he told her. “I was kind of lucky after all. I at least had the chance to reach adulthood before having met my fate. Despite missing my family dreadfully, I was at least capable of coming to terms with it. Unlike those kids.” He turned to face the bathroom doorway, the sadness returning to his eyes. “ _They_ have never gotten over what happened to them. How could they? They were too young. Too young to be able to cope with the all pain and horror that man had put them through, with being taken away from their families so suddenly and being trapped all alone in this place for years.”

Suddenly, at the mention of the missing children and the suspicion that this William Afton was the one who killed them, Iona’s nightmare came back to her in a flash and the instant it did, a grim realisation also began to bleed into her mind.

“They were stuffed into suits too, weren’t they?” she spoke.

Freddy looked down at her again, confused this time. “How did you know?” he asked, surprised that she had been able to guess that so quickly, especially since she had known as little about what happened to them as every other human in town.

Again, Iona looked up at him in fear. Again, her mouth was locked, but this time, with some determination to break it and obey her mind screaming at her to just _tell_ him, she answered, “That’s what I saw in my nightmare, Freddy. The children, they had been stuffed into spare animatronic suits, locked up in the basement and left to rot down there, without ever getting a proper burial. I thought it was just a dream at first, but after hearing everything you’ve just told me… Well, the only explanation I can think of is that I’d actually had a vision last night, but I don’t understand how that could even be possible.”

As he listened, the confusion in Freddy’s eyes was slowly replaced with disgust, but the lack of surprise too indicated that he had known this horrible truth all along and that he was sorry that Iona had to have learned it too.

Sharing Freddy’s abhorrence, Iona looked down again to the tiled floor. “Tell me something, Freddy,” she said at last. “William Afton, the man who killed you and that little girl… was he the same man who took the five missing children?”

There was a brief pause in which a pall fell over the dark little room until, slowly, Freddy finally nodded. “Yes,” he said. “He took on the alias of ‘Dave Miller’ while he worked here. I told you he was too clever to be caught by the police, you remember. But I was the only one who knew who he _really_ was.” He looked down at Iona again, his eyes softening once more. “That was how I knew that you and the other kids were in danger when he started to take you away that day. It was how I was able to save you.”

Hearing this, Iona’s heart swelled as she looked up into the bear’s eyes. Her new found love for him, the lingering horror from her nightmare, the fresh one from the story he had just told her and the sympathy she now felt for him after learning of his true fate, all of this quickly filled her to the brim with emotion. Trying vainly to fight back tears which succeeded in falling from her eyes in floods, she threw her arms around him once more, and this time, he was quick to return her embrace. Gently, he stroked his paw down the back of her head as he held her close to him.

“Even…” she trailed off, her voice shaky as she tried not to sob. “Knowing… that you are someone else entirely…” She closed her eyes and more tears fell, soaking into the soft fur of Freddy’s chest. “You should know that… I don’t love you any less for it.”

“You don’t?” Freddy asked, feeling surprised again, but without knowing why. “You’re not even angry that I’ve kept this from you all these years?”

Iona pulled away and looked up him with sincerity. “No,” she breathed, shaking her head. “Because when I was a little girl, I had a silly crush on Freddy Fazbear, but now… now, I love _Freddy_. Not the friendly, jovial bear whose only purpose was to sing and dance on stage for the kids, but who you were… _are_ as a person.” She gently pressed a hand over his chest where a heart would’ve been were he still a living creature. “The one who saved my life when no one else would’ve known, _could’ve_ known I was in danger. The one who accepted me for who I was, both as a friend _and_ as a lover. You said your soul is now possessing this robot and it’s your soul that I fell in love with in the first place, before _and_ after I knew the whole truth about you. It’s the _real_ you, Freddy, the you only I can see, the you I only get to see at night… _that’s_ who I love.”

Relief washed over Freddy in that instant. For the past twenty-four hours, he had been so nervous about telling Iona this dark secret about himself that he had hidden from her all the time they had known each other. But now that she had learned it and accepted it, he smiled softly down at her. Leaning down towards her, he closed his eyes as he pressed his forehead against hers.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“That’s alright,” she murmured in reply, a smile now forming on her lips too. Placing a gentle hand on his cheek, she leaned towards him and pressed her lips against his in a soft kiss, a gesture which he himself was all too glad to return.

_And thank_ you, she thought, feeling herself slowly relaxing in his arms at long last. For the rest of the night, she never thought of her nightmare again.

**Author's Note:**

> FNAF and its characters (c) Scott Cawthon  
> Iona Blackburn and other original characters (c) Me


End file.
